International Protection

From: Barry Miller <Barry[_at_]srgpe.com>
Date: Tue, 24 Jun 1997 16:11:05 +0100

     I am serving as the Industry Coordinator for the upcoming program to train member countries of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) on compliance with the World Trade Organization's Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property (TRIPs). I would like to know if any of the participants in this group/list are interested in providing information or experiences as input for use in training APEC-member countries on the effective customs enforcement of intellectual property rights. The Program will be held in Tokyo in connection with the APEC Subcommittee on Customs Procedures on October 27, 28, and 29, 1997. It is the initial event of a two-year program for training member countries on methods for detecting and preventing trademark counterfeiting and copyright piracy. The Program was requested by 10 of the member countries of APEC, all of which are listed at the end of this message.

    Formal presentations will be made on October 29, 1997, to the full assembly of government participants (about 200). These presentations will be designed to reinforce the global importance of protecting trademarks and copyrights through customs enforcement. Although many of the member countries currently recognize this importance, and further recognize their obligations under TRIPs, we want to include an appeal from industry, rather than solely from government officials, to encourage the greatest efforts to implement the enforcement procedures that will be developed by the program being launched by the three-day initial event.

     On Thursday, October 30, 1997, the day after the industry presentations, members of the private sector will meet with government "assessors." At these sessions, we will speak with government officials who will evaluate the present level of the member countries' efforts to enforce rights in trademarks and copyrights. The assessors will then be responsible for reviewing those countries' laws, regulations, and operations, and for training member countries in becoming TRIPs compliant. We want to direct the assessors to the most important problems being encountered and to help them design enforcement efforts that target the areas of greatest concern.

     We have, with this Program, an excellent opportunity to assist national authorities at a very early stage in the development of procedures to protect against counterfeiting and piracy in the Asia-Pacific region.

     I invite input from the participants in this group/list and will endeavor to incorporate your concerns into the Program.

     Please contact me directly or through the list if you are interested in providing input.

Barry P. Miller            
Shulman, Rogers           

11921 Rockville Pike, 3rd Floor
Rockville, Maryland 20852-2743
U.S.A.

Tel.  : 301 230 5230
Fax   : 301 230 2891
e-mail: barry[_at_]srgpe.com
or      iplawman[_at_]cais.com

Members of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation:

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Australia
Brunei Darussalam
Canada
Chile
People's Republic of China
Hong Kong
Indonesia
Japan
Republic of Korea
Malaysia
Mexico
New Zealand
Papua New Guinea
Republic of the Philippines
Singapore
Chinese Taipei
Thailand
United States of America Received on Tue Jun 24 1997 - 15:15:43 GMT