VZCZCXYZ0000
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHDG #0734/01 0611718
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 021718Z MAR 06
FM AMEMBASSY SANTO DOMINGO
TO SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 3780

UNCLAS SANTO DOMINGO 000734 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
PASS TO USPTO FOR JOELLEN URBAN 
PASS USTR FOR JENNIFER CHOE-GROVES 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ETRD DR KIPR
SUBJECT:  DOMINICNA REPUBLIC: 
INPUT FOR 2006 SPECIAL 301 REVIEW 
 
REF:  STATE 14937 
 
¶1. Summary: The Dominican 
government has shown improvement in 
its attention to intellectual 
property rights.  Ratification of 
CAFTA-DR by Dominican Congress in 
September 2005 brought further 
pressure on the government to 
undertake legislative changes as 
part of its commitment under the 
free trade agreement to strengthen 
IPR protection.  In January 2006 
the Dominican Republic deposited 
instruments of ratification for the 
WIPO Copyright Treaty and the WIPO 
Performances and Phonograms treaty 
as part of this commitment. 
Ongoing efforts to meet 
implementation requirements for 
CAFTA-DR have helped keep the 
government focused on improving IP 
protection, though there remains 
significant room for progress, 
notably in strengthening data 
protection and linkage.  While 
video piracy is a growing problem, 
the copyright office (ONDA) 
reported confiscation and 
destruction of 190,000 DVDs during 
¶2005.  Embassy recommends 
maintaining the Dominican Republic 
on the Special 301 Watch List.  End 
Summary. 
 
IP Climate 
------------- 
¶2. While the Dominican Republic has 
laws with sanctions adequate to 
protect copyrights and has improved 
the regulatory framework for patent 
and trademark protection, United 
States industry representatives 
continue to cite insufficiently 
rigorous IPR enforcement as a major 
concern.  There have been signs of 
improvement in IPR enforcement, 
most notably in the area of 
television broadcast piracy, which 
has been a source of major concern. 
 
¶3. CAFTA-DR, ratified by the 
Dominican Republic in September 
2005 but not yet implemented, 
obligates the Dominican Republic to 
strengthen its IPR protection 
regime.  In particular it will 
require stronger deterrence against 
piracy and counterfeiting by 
criminalizing end user piracy and 
requiring the authorities to seize, 
forfeit, 
and destroy counterfeit and pirated 
goods and the equipment used to 
produce them. 
 
Comment: We are optimistic that the 
Dominican Government's interest in 
implementing CAFTA-DR will bring 
about further improvements over the 
course of the next few months. End 
comment. 
 
Optical Media Piracy 
-------------------------- 
¶4.  According to a local attorney 
who serves as MPA representative in 
the Dominican Republic, the number 
of illegal copies of DVD movies 
produced here grew significantly 
during 2005.    ONDA (the Dominican 
copyright office) reported 
confiscation and destruction of 
250,000 music compact discs and 
190,000 DVD's during 2005.  31 
multiple drive computers for audio 
and video reproduction were also 
confiscated and destroyed during 
the year. 
 
¶5. Note: In February 2006, local 
 
newspapers reported on police raids 
on pirates resulting in shootings 
and at least one serious injury of 
a vendor of pirated CD/DVDs.  One 
report included the story of a 
group of pirates responding to the 
crackdown by forming a committee 
and approaching local music and 
movie producers in hopes of being 
awarded favorable prices on 
legitimate copies of protected 
material, which could then be 
distributed at lower prices in the 
poor neighborhoods where the 
pirates are often established. 
 
Use/Procurement of Government 
Software 
----------------------------------- 
¶6. ONDA prepared a draft regulation 
in December 2005 designed to 
regulate government procurement and 
use of computer equipment and 
software.  The decree was submitted 
to USTR and is currently under 
review along with other CAFTA-DR 
implementation draft documentation. 
It specifically calls for central 
government offices to guarantee 
that government computers use only 
software that complies with 
"applicable copyright regulations." 
 
TRIPS Compliance and CAFTA DR 
----------------------------------- 
¶7. CAFTA-DR mandates both statutory 
and actual damages for copyright 
and trademark infringement, 
measures to help ensure that 
monetary damages can be awarded 
even when it is difficult to assign 
a monetary value to the 
infringement.  In December 2005 the 
Dominican government submitted to 
USTR wide ranging proposed 
legislation to meet its commitments 
under CAFTA-DR.  In-depth working 
meetings between the Dominican 
government and USTR are pending 
while documents are translated and 
USTR continues to move forward with 
its review of four Central American 
CAFTA countries which began the 
implementation process earlier. 
Embassy expects a detailed and 
intense series of technical working 
sessions to begin soon, during 
which USTR will work with Dominican 
authorities to ensure that proposed 
legislation brings the country into 
compliance with its commitments 
under CAFTA-DR. 
 
Data Protection 
------------------ 
¶8. Dominican Industrial Property 
Law and regulations have not yet 
been applied in legal proceedings, 
so the effectiveness of those 
measures has not been tested. 
CAFTA-DR requires that test data 
submitted to the Dominican 
government for the purpose of 
product approval be protected 
against unfair commercial use for a 
period of 5 years for 
pharmaceuticals and 10 years for 
agricultural chemicals.  Several 
Dominican pharmaceutical 
manufacturers have repeatedly 
sought changes to proposed 
implementing laws and procedures in 
order to avoid this requirement, 
but leadership in both houses of 
Congress has declined to entertain 
draft legislation to this effect. 
Complying with the requirements for 
data protection will necessitate 
close and more effective 
coordination between licensing 
authorities and the Patent Office. 
 
Television Broadcast Piracy 
----------------------------------- 
¶9. The Dominicans committed in a 
side letter to CAFTA-DR to make 
stronger efforts to halt television 
broadcast piracy and agreed to 
report on their efforts in this 
regard in a quarterly report to 
USTR.  The Embassy has noted 
improved coordination in this 
regard among various government 
agencies including the Secretariat 
of Industry and Commerce, the 
Attorney General's Office, the 
Patent Office and the Copyright 
Office.  The authorities advised 
cable television operators of their 
legal responsibilities regarding 
copyright, secured a formal 
agreement with the operators' 
association in August 2005, and in 
September seized equipment from six 
operators found to be infringing 
the laws.  The Attorney General's 
office instituted proceedings 
against several television 
broadcasters in the first half of 
2005 for infringement of the 
copyrights of the owners of various 
U.S. film titles. 
 
Enforcement and Efforts Against 
Import of Counterfeit Goods 
----------------------------------- 
¶10. Dominican Customs recently 
created a six-person office 
responsible for IPR enforcement on 
imported goods.  The office's 
director, formerly assigned to the 
Dominican Embassy in Washington, 
appears to be capable and eager to 
work with other appropriate 
Dominican government agencies to 
ensure the effectiveness of his 
office.  In February 2006, 
Dominican House of Representatives 
approved legislation that gives 
Customs full, legal autonomy over 
its own budget, which should make 
it possible for Customs to continue 
efforts such as this. 
 
Treaties 
--------- 
¶11. The Dominican Republic 
deposited instruments of 
ratification for the WIPO Copyright 
Treaty and the WIPO Performances 
and Phonograms Treaty, and these 
entered into force for the country 
on January 10, 2006. 
 
Summary and Recommendation 
----------------------------------- 
----- 
¶12. The CAFTA-DR implementation 
process presents a significant 
opportunity to ensure that the 
stronger IPR protections negotiated 
under the agreement are adhered to 
by the Dominican government.  The 
CAFTA-DR framework has resulted in 
efforts by the Dominican government 
to step up enforcement as in the 
case of improved efforts to stop 
cable broadcasting piracy, to 
create an IP enforcement office 
within Customs and to modify 
legislation to ensure that areas in 
which the country is weak are 
brought up to international 
standards.    We recommend 
maintaining the Dominican Republic 
on the Special 301 Watch List so 
that the Embassy can use the 
ranking to encourage the government 
to undertake further efforts to 
strengthen IPR protections in the 
coming year.