VZCZCXYZ0014
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHBU #0861/01 1231117
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 031117Z MAY 07
FM AMEMBASSY BUENOS AIRES
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 8033
INFO RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHINGTON DC
RUCPDOC/USDOC WASHINGTON DC
RUEHAC/AMEMBASSY ASUNCION 6138
RUEHMN/AMEMBASSY MONTEVIDEO 6411
RUEHSG/AMEMBASSY SANTIAGO 0388
RUEHBR/AMEMBASSY BRASILIA 6001
RUEHLP/AMEMBASSY LA PAZ MAY GUATEMALA 0217
RUEHSO/AMCONSUL SAO PAULO 3270
RUEHRI/AMCONSUL RIO DE JANEIRO 2215

UNCLAS BUENOS AIRES 000861 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
SENSITIVE 
 
DEPT FOR EB/TPP/IPE JBOGER, RWALLACE AND RWATTS 
DEPT PLS PASS TO USTR JENNIFER CHOE GROVES, SUE CRONIN 
DOC/ITA/MAC/OIPR FOR CATHERINE PETERS 
PLEASE PASS TO USPTO JURBAN AND LOC STEPP 
TREASURY FOR ROSELLEN ALBANO 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KIPR ECON KPAS AR
SUBJECT: EMBASSY 2007 WORLD INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY DAY OUTREACH 
 
Refs: (A) Buenos Aires 750 
  (B) State 56094 
 
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Summary 
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¶1. (SBU) For World Intellectual Property Day, Embassy Buenos Aires 
used editorials and a press event to bring the problem of piracy to 
the Argentines' attention.  On April 26, prominent editorials 
appeared in two morning papers and that afternoon, in an event that 
received broad press coverage, the Ambassador and the American 
Chamber of Commerce hosted the launch of a new pro-IP effort: a 
contest aimed at college students and young professionals. 
Improving intellectual property protection in Argentina will be a 
long term effort, and Post's World IP Day program seeks to educate 
public perceptions and show that improved IP protection is good for 
Argentina.  End Summary. 
 
¶2. (U) World Intellectual Property Day, designated by member nations 
of the World Intellectual Property Organization, was observed April 
¶26.  On that day, Post participated in a number of events designed 
to emphasize the positive aspects for Argentina of improved 
intellectual property protection.  The most public of these was the 
launch, hosted by the Ambassador, of a contest organized by the 
American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham).  The contest asks 
participants - college students and young professionals - to write 
an essay that describes how intellectual property protection can 
benefit Argentina.  Winners will receive free post-graduate courses 
at one of two local universities, or the National Institute of 
Industrial Property (INPI, the GoA's USPTO equivalent).  The event 
was attended by representatives of nearly all contest sponsors, 
including Mario Aramburu, the President of INPI.  Coverage included 
several newspaper articles and television reports. 
 
¶3. (SBU) Business-oriented daily "El Cronista Comercial" dedicated a 
front page reference to a 3/4 page editorial inside by Ambassador 
Wayne, emphasizing IP protection as the most effective way to 
nurture creativity.  Noting that Argentines have benefited from and 
produced an abundance of creative work in the arts and sciences, the 
editorial mentioned the recent news that Argentine scientists had 
found a way to get cows to produce insulin.  PAS worked with a local 
editorialist to coordinate a second editorial on the same morning in 
leading daily "La Nacion," which expressed that "in countries where 
piracy rates are higher, the result is a diminished supply of 
creative efforts, with consequent cultural impoverishment." 
 
¶4. (U) There has been follow-on media coverage of the issue of 
intellectual property rights and the problem of piracy, including 
reports May 2 on Argentina's status under the Special 301 process. 
Argentina's placement on the Priority Watch List for the 13th year 
in a row has generated news items that highlight its classification 
along with 12 other under-performers. 
 
¶5. (SBU) World Intellectual Property Day came in the midst of a 
public controversy regarding intellectual property rights.  U.S. 
pharmaceutical firm Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS) got a patent in 
January 2007 for a new anti-HIV product, produced in a joint venture 
with Pfizer, another U.S. firm.  BMS quickly obtained a preliminary 
injunction against a local firm which had offered to sell copies of 
the drug to the GOA's AIDS program.  (Note: Other firms have had 
difficulty obtaining such injunctions - see ref A - but that has 
been in cases where the patent was based on the process, while the 
BMS patent was based on the molecule.  End Note).  A business 
chamber which represents the local firm took out full-page ads in 
most dailies denouncing the decision, and the judge who made it by 
name.  Health Minister Gines Gonzalez joined the fray the next day, 
saying patents for medicines "generate monopolies and put supply of 
medicines at risk," and also wrote an editorial published April 20 
calling local AIDS patients "hostages" of multinational firms. 
 
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Comment 
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¶6. (SBU) Argentina's placement on the Special 301 Priority Watch 
List for the 13th year in a row (Ref B) makes it clear that major 
improvements in the Argentine IPR regime will come about only as the 
result of a long-term effort.  Education efforts, particularly those 
aimed at Argentina's youth, will be an important part of this 
process.  Post's IP efforts are focused on the long term goal of 
trying to change perceptions, both of the public and the GoA, and to 
show that Argentina and its wealth of creative talent stands to 
benefit from improved IP protection. 
 
¶7. (U) To see more Buenos Aires reporting, visit our classified 
website at:  http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/wha/buenosaires.< /a> 
 
WAYNE