[A2k] [Acta] Proposed Multilateral Agreement Moving Forward

[Manon Ress]

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[ Picked text/plain from multipart/alternative ]
From: Robin Gross <robin@ipjustice.org>
Date: April 16, 2008 1:31:59 AM EDT
To: acta@ipjustice.org
Subject: [Acta] Proposed Multilateral Agreement Moving Forward

Interesting press release from International Trademark Association
claims:

"Following several months of internal discussions among European Union
Member States, it was announced on April 14 that an agreement has
finally been reached which will allow negotiations to start in earnest."

Where was it announced?

http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0804/S00164.htm

Proposed Multilateral Agreement Moving Forward

Wednesday, 16 April 2008, 10:09 am
Press Release: International Trademark Association
Proposed Multilateral Agreement Moving Forward

Brussels, Belgium - April 15, 2008 - The International Trademark
Association (INTA) and The International Chamber of Commerce's (ICC)
Business Action to Stop Counterfeiting and Piracy (BASCAP) today
welcomed news by the Council of Ministers of the mandate authorizing
the European Commission to open negotiations on the Anti-
Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) between the EU and key economic
partners, including the United States, Japan, South Korea, Mexico and
New Zealand.

In October 2007, the United States, European Union, Japan, South
Korea, Mexico and New Zealand announced that they had reached a
tentative agreement on a framework for a new multi-lateral agreement
intended to establish a stronger set of common standards for
intellectual property enforcement among their countries.

Following several months of internal discussions among European Union
Member States, it was announced on April 14 that an agreement has
finally been reached which will allow negotiations to start in earnest.

INTA and ICC's BASCAP had recently called for the negotiations on the
new anti-counterfeiting agreement to begin as soon as possible and
thus warmly welcome this announcement.

"We are very pleased to see the speed with which ACTA is moving
forward and is being embraced by those seated at the European Union's
negotiating table. The actions outlined in this agreement have the
potential to significantly raise the profile and the protection of
trademarks and we are optimistic to see it become a reality," said
INTA Executive Director, Alan C. Drewsen.

ICC Secretary General Guy Sebban welcomed the progress announced by
the negotiating parties but added some words of caution: "In order to
be relevant, ACTA must deliver significant improvements over existing
multilateral guidelines by establishing stronger international
standards for government performance on intellectual property
enforcement."

Once fully ratified, ACTA would provide for stronger international
coordination, agreement on the best enforcement practices and
alignment on provisions of legal frameworks to ensure that adequate
criminal, civil and border protection measures are in place.

To learn more about the importance of trademarks, please visit http://www.i=
nta.org/media/center

***






IP JUSTICE
Robin Gross, Executive Director
1192 Haight Street, San Francisco, CA  94117  USA
p: +1-415-553-6261    f: +1-415-462-6451
w: http://www.ipjustice.org     e: robin@ipjustice.org



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Manon Anne Ress
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Il vaut mieux remuer une question, sans la d=E9cider, que la d=E9cider,
sans la remuer.
Pens=E9es, essais, maximes et correspondance de J. Joubert  p.249
http://visualiseur.bnf.fr/Visualiseur?Destination=3DGallica&O=3DNUMM-88671
Translation: It is better to debate a question without settling it
than to settle a question without debating it