This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

UNCLAS  BRATISLAVA 000212 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR EUR/NCE MCKNIGHT AND EB/IPC:WILSON 
 
DEPT PLEASE PASS TO USTR FOR BPECK 
USDOC FOR KSCHLEGELMILCH 
USPTO FOR JURBAN/DASHLEY-JOHNSON 
LOC FOR TEPP 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KIPR ETRD ECON XG LO IPR
SUBJECT: 2003 SPECIAL 301 REVIEW FOR SLOVAKIA 
 
REF: STATE 43420 
 
¶1.  Summary:  Slovakia has enacted nearly all of the 
intellectual property legislation required by TRIPS, and the 
overall IPR situation has improved from a historical 
perspective.  However, a lack of IPR protection for 
pharmaceuticals caused Slovakia to be placed on the Special 
301 Watch List in each of the past three years and there is 
little evidence that the situation has improved adequately. 
Problems related to general patent protection, especially 
data exclusivity, continue to be an issue because it is 
unclear which department of the GOS has responsibility. 
Piracy of optical and other visual medias remains minimal, 
but home "burning" of CD's has likely increased.  The 
Ministry of Interior (MOI) and the police have an 
independent office dedicated to computer-related crime. 
Although GOS offices and large companies predominantly use 
licensed software, experts say entrepreneurs and small- and 
medium-size enterprises continue to use pirated software. 
The sale of counterfeit trademarked goods is minimal.  Due 
to problems in the pharmaceutical area we recommend that 
Slovakia remain on the Watch List unless the GOS moves 
aggressively to address these issues before the 301 
decisions must be made.  End summary. 
 
TRIPS IMPLEMENTATION 
-------------------- 
¶2.  The Patent Law, the Commercial Code, the Law on 
Trademarks, the Law on Inventions, Industrial Design and 
Rationalization, the Law on Protection of Appellations of 
Origin of Products, and the Copyright Act, all implement 
Slovakia's TRIPS obligations.  The Civil and Penal Codes 
implement obligations with regard to enforcement.  TRIPS has 
been valid in Slovakia since 1995, but industry sources 
report that implementation and enforcement, despite some 
improvement, still remain problematic. 
 
¶3.  Slovak law remains problematic because it fails to 
harmonize data exclusivity with market authorization, and 
this raises potential conflicts with the country's WTO 
obligations.  Data exclusivity is drastically weakened 
because the GOS recognizes the date of first marketing 
authorization in any EU country as the start of the six-year 
period of protection in Slovakia, but does not accept the 
corresponding EU marketing authorization.  Since Slovak 
marketing authorization often takes two or three years 
longer than its EU equivalent, the six-year period of data 
exclusivity protection is drastically reduced.  In an effort 
to placate disgruntled industry members, in 2002 the GOS 
passed a law offering a 10-year period of data exclusivity 
for "high technology" drugs.  However, in 2003 the GOS 
returned to a six-year period of protection. 
 
¶4.  Foreign pharmaceutical manufacturers continue to 
complain that the GOS allows competitors to sell drugs that 
are protected by valid patents.  Reportedly, the GOS has 
told the patent holders to sue the infringing companies 
directly, rather than getting involved itself or denying the 
guilty companies legal approval to sell the disputed drugs 
in the first place.  Industry sources complain that Slovak 
legislation is unclear and that GOS officials do not 
understand who has responsibility for enforcement of various 
laws, or even that patents are held on certain drugs. 
Currently, at least one foreign pharmaceutical 
manufacturer's infringement case is caught between two GOS 
offices that each say the other is responsible for the 
issue. 
 
¶5.  In 2002, Slovakia became a member of the EPO, acceding 
to all of the appropriate regulations, including the 
Convention on the Grant of European Patents and the Protocol 
on Centralization of the European Patent System.  According 
to Lubos Knoth at the Slovak Industrial Property Office 
(SIPO), Slovakia now provides European patents with the same 
level of protection as they enjoy in other EPO members. 
Moreover, licensed Slovak attorneys can now represent their 
customers in the EPO. 
 
OPTICAL MEDIA 
------------- 
¶6.  According to the Slovak Anti-Piracy Union (SAPU), the 
problem of video piracy has decreased significantly since 
¶2002.  The practice of video rental shops buying one legal 
copy of a video and then making several pirated copies, as 
well as the presence of pirated videos at flea markets, is 
now rare.  On the other hand, counterfeited DVD's, primarily 
of Ukrainian and Russian origin, have started to become more 
common. Efforts by the police, tax authorities and customs 
 
officers to monitor this situation have been commendable. 
According to a SAPU official, in 2003 up to 1,000 DVDs were 
seized and five or six individuals were arrested and put on 
probation for a period of 2 years.  Generally, Slovakia is a 
transit-and-target country rather than a producing nation, 
as it has no visual media pressing plants.  However, Sky 
Media, a Swiss company reportedly with Russian interests, 
plans to open Europe's largest CD-rom and DVD production 
facility in Slovakia later this year. 
 
¶7.  Although some progress has occurred in the area of music 
media, further improvement is essential. According to 
Slavomir Olsovsky from the International Federation of the 
Phonographic Industries (IFPI), legislation has been to a 
large extent harmonized, but enforcement is still lacking 
because of the insufficient skills and experience of police 
and customs officers.  A flea market in Eastern Slovakia's 
largest city, Kosice, was recently the site of a major 
police action, during which dozens of music CDs and other 
goods were confiscated, and forty people were arrested for 
selling illegal merchandise.  The number of home 
manufactured, or so-called "burned" CD's has likely climbed 
significantly due to the increasing penetration of personal 
computer copiers.  There are no industrial facilities to 
press pirated and/or counterfeited CD's in the country. 
 
COMPUTER SOFTWARE 
----------------- 
¶8.  Computer programs are protected as literary works, 
according to Section 7(1)a of the Copyright Act.  Use of 
unlicensed computer programs is a crime, which carries a 
sentence of up to five years in prison or a financial 
penalty. Since 2001, the Slovak Police Presidium has 
operated a special independent office dedicated to computer- 
related crime.  Generally, Slovakia is a consumer of pirated 
software but not a significant producer, and most of the 
pirated goods come from Ukraine, Russia and Poland. 
Problems persist regarding Slovakia's personal computer 
gaming clubs, which continue to violate computer licensing 
laws.  In 2003, Slovak police conducted raids at 12 Internet 
cafes in the city of Nitra, seizing 116 personal computers 
that contained illegal software. 
 
¶9.  According to industry experts, software piracy has 
noticeably decreased in Slovakia.  Microsoft's Bill Gates 
said during his visit to the country in January 2004, "We 
have registered a decline in software piracy in Slovakia." 
Based on the Microsoft's Enterprise Agreement with the GOS 
signed in 2002, all copyrights of Microsoft software being 
used in the state administration have been purchased by 
Slovak authorities for a total of USD 13 million 
(representing a 65 percent discount on the regular price). 
In 2001, a similar agreement was signed between Microsoft 
and the Slovak Chamber of Physicians and in 2004, Slovakia 
joined Microsoft's worldwide project "Partners in 
education." 
 
¶10.  In October 2003, the Slovak branch of the U.S. based 
Business Software Alliance (BSA) launched a nationwide 
campaign to fight illegal software.  Together with the 
police, the BSA sent out 100,000 letters to entrepreneurs 
reminding them that the use of unlicensed products was 
against the law.  Ads on local radio stations relayed the 
same message.  The International Planning and Research 
Corporation assigned Slovakia a piracy rate of 45 percent 
for 2002, the second lowest figure in the region, down from 
66 percent in 1994.  A 2003 study by BSA and the IDC Company 
suggested that if Slovakia reduced its software piracy rate 
by 10 percentage points, its IT sector could grow to nearly 
USD 1 billion annually by 2006, from USD 545 million in 
¶2002. 
 
TRADEMARKS 
---------- 
¶11.  Trips obligations on trademarks, bringing Slovakia into 
conformation with EU legislation, came into effect in 2002. 
In addition, Slovakia passed a law on customs measures 
regarding the import and export of illegal and counterfeit 
goods to comply with TRIPS articles dealing with customs and 
border control.  However, implementation is weak along the 
Ukrainian border, which is considered by experts to be an 
easy target for pirates. 
 
¶12.  An amendment to the Act on Trademarks came in effect on 
February 1, 2004, granting European "community" trademarks 
validity in Slovakia after its accession to the EU on May 1, 
¶2004.  Existing community trademarks will automatically be 
valid in the enlarged EU.  While the holders of existing 
 
national or international trademarks of similar appearance 
may not contest this automatic extension of existing 
community trademarks, they can protect their rights by 
applying for a ban on the use of existing similar community 
trademarks in Slovakia if their trademark was previously 
registered. In addition, commencing November 1, 2003, 
trademark holders can file objections to new applications 
for the registration of community trademarks of similar 
appearance. 
 
¶13.  According to sources, illegal use of trademarks is not 
perceived to be a significant problem in Slovakia.  The 
Customs Code makes it possible for Slovak Customs to seize 
counterfeited goods.  (NOTE: Previously, this authority was 
granted only to the trademark owner himself).  However, both 
customs and police are still not sufficiently trained 
regarding which trademarks are licensed in Slovakia. 
 
DESIGNS 
------- 
¶14. Protection of industrial designs by the 2002 Act on 
Designs, conforms to EU standards.  After accession to the 
EU, the protection afforded designs in existing member 
states will automatically apply in Slovakia, just as Slovak 
businesses will be able to take advantage of the same 
protection for their designs in the enlarged EU. 
 
DESIGNATION OF ORIGIN 
--------------------- 
¶15.  In the area of designation of origin, Slovak 
legislation (Act. 466/2003) conforms to Council Regulation 
(EC) No. 535/97 on the protection of geographical 
indications and designations of origin for agricultural 
products and foodstuffs. 
 
ENUMERATION LEGISLATION 
----------------------- 
¶16.  Compensation of enumeration is defined by the Copyright 
Act, which entered into effect on January 1, 2004.  The law 
imposes a six percent levy on all recording carriers such as 
CD's and video and audiotapes, and a three percent levy on 
all recording devices such as computers, video recorders, 
DVD players and other reprographic appliances.  Slovakia is 
the only country in Europe to also imposed a 0.5 percent 
levy on all hard discs in computers.  The proceeds from 
these levies go to industry rights holders, including 
foreign entities, although the exact amounts are difficult 
to calculate and vary according to bilateral and 
multilateral agreements.  For example, the Slovak Performing 
and Mechanical Rights Society (SOZA) is responsible for 
distributing compensation for U.S.-made music recordings to 
the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers. 
 
INTERNET PIRACY 
--------------- 
¶17.  In 2003, the SAPU, responsible for protection of movie 
industry rights, discovered 57 websites offering up to 700 
movie titles in the form of burned CDs in 2003.  SAPU has 
worked with the police in an effort to close down the 
websites and prosecute the administrators.  Most of the 
sites had operated on an order-only base (no titles in 
stock).  The BSA, responsible for monitoring software- 
related crime, reported that for the first time ever, an 
individual in Slovakia had received a sentence of one-year 
of probation for the crime of selling computer programs 
through the Internet. 
 
IPR ENFORCEMENT 
--------------- 
¶18.  According to the SIPO, Slovakia's TRIPS obligations are 
implemented through the Civil and Penal Codes.  The Slovak 
Customs Directorate is responsible for border enforcement, 
while the Slovak Police Presidium under the MOI is 
responsible for cases occurring within Slovakia.  The State 
Institute for Criminology has a department that specializes 
in determining whether goods are pirated or genuine.  Legal 
representatives of specialized organizations protecting 
intellectual property rights are often invited to assist in 
determining the size of damage and applying compensations. 
A lack of experience on the side of executing bodies still 
persists a major obstacle in IPR enforcement. 
 
¶19.  In 2003, police seized around 6,000 music CD's (in 
audio or MP3 format), the overwhelming majority of which 
were burned, not industrially produced.  This compares to 
7,500 CD's in 2002; 7,630 in 2001; 13,859 in 2000, and 
26,500 in 1999.  Experts partially blame the decline on 
police incompetence, but also admit that fewer people are 
 
purchasing pirated CD's as household "burning" becomes more 
common.  According to SAPU's statistics, in the area of 
movies, the police made 114 raids on flea markets during 
2003, and seized 467 videocassettes, 316 DVD's and 560 CD's 
with movie content. 
 
¶20.  In addition to enforcement, prosecution remains a 
problem.  Slovakia still has no specialized IPR prosecutors 
or police, there are no formal procedures or registrations 
required for lawyers seeking to adjudicate IPR cases, and 
punishment for IPR crimes remains inadequate.  If a pirate 
obtains a skilled lawyer, he can often be acquitted. 
Further, most pirates who are prosecuted receive light 
sentences, such as small fines or probation, although they 
can be sentenced for up to five years in prison in case of 
breaching copyright rights and up to three years in prison 
in case of violating industrial property rights.  To date, 
no persons convicted of piracy have served prison terms. 
 
¶21.  There are no dedicated courts for the adjudication of 
IPR cases in Slovakia.  However in 2003, the GOS established 
a panel of three judges to adjudicate IPR cases at three 
regional courts, in Banska Bystrica, Kosice and Bratislava. 
The Ministry of Justice, in cooperation with the SIPO, 
conducted intensive training of assigned judges on IPR and 
related issues. 
 
WCT AND WPPT COMPLIANCE 
----------------------- 
¶22.  Obligations from WIPO's Copyright Treaty (WCT) and 
WIPO's Performance and Phonograms Treaty (WPPT) were 
implemented into the Slovak Copyright Act in 2000. Slovakia 
became party to WCT and WPPT in 2002.  Moreover, a new 
Copyright Law (618/2003), effective from January 1, 2004, 
has also been brought into compliance with Directive 
2001/29/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 
22 May 2001 on the harmonization of certain aspects of 
copyright and related rights in the information society. 
 
COMMENT 
------- 
¶23.  We do not believe piracy is a major problem in 
Slovakia.  Authorities have been generally cooperative with 
aggressive private sector efforts to combat piracy of 
various products protected by IPR legislation.  However, 
weak data exclusivity protection remains a major concern and 
we believe it warrants keeping Slovakia on the Special 301 
Watch List.  We are encouraged by Slovakia's membership in 
various international IPR organizations and hope it will 
lead to greater patent protection within the pharmaceutical 
industry.  If so, we would call for Slovakia to be removed 
from the Special 301 List in the future.  Post will continue 
to lobby hard for actual implementation of laws protecting 
patent information, and we urge USG officials to raise the 
importance of this issue with the Slovak embassy in 
Washington as well. 
 
THAYER 
 
 
NNNN