[Ip-health] Cong Daily: Thailand Put On List Of Top Intellectual Property Violators ...

[Mike Palmedo]

Thailand Put On List Of Top Intellectual Property Violators ...

Martin Vaughan
Congress Daily
April 30, 2007

     China and Russia remain the most egregious global producers of
pirated and counterfeited goods, while U.S. trade officials elevated
Thailand to their list of the world's worst intellectual property rights
offenders, according to an annual report released today. U.S. officials
added Thailand to the Priority Watch List in their Special 301 report,
partly because of Thailand's handling of compulsory licenses it issued
to import generic versions of two HIV/AIDS drugs and a heart medication.
The report cited an overall deterioration of intellectual property
rights protection in Thailand, including piracy of optical discs and
books, and cable and signal theft. Regarding Thailand's decision to
break drug patents, U.S. officials confined their criticism of the
process by which Thailand reached that decision, avoiding any assertion
that the compulsory licenses themselves violated international trade
rules. "I'm not going to comment on whether or not Thailand's actions
are consistent with the WTO," said Victoria Espinel, assistant U.S.
Trade Representative for intellectual property rights. "We have a lot of
concerns about the process Thailand has used, and the transparency of
the situation." Health activists and advocates of fewer restrictions on
the use of intellectual property criticized the move. One of them, James
Love, executive director of Knowledge Ecology International, said, "The
sanctioning of countries for using legitimate and important
flexibilities in the [WTO] agreement brings shame to all U.S. citizens
who are increasingly seen in Thailand and elsewhere as bullies and
hypocrites."

[snip]

--
Mike Palmedo
Research Coordinator
Program on Information Justice and Intellectual Property
American University, Washington College of Law
4910 Massachutsetts Ave., NW Washington, DC 20016
T - 202-274-4442 | F 202-274-0659
mpalmedo@wcl.american.edu