VZCZCXYZ0012
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHAR #0219/01 0431831
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 121831Z FEB 08
FM AMEMBASSY ACCRA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 6141
RUCPDOC/USDOC WASHDC 0653

UNCLAS ACCRA 000219 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR EB/TPP/IPE, JENNIFER BOGER 
DEPT PLEASE PASS TO USTR FOR JENNIFER CHOE GROVES 
USDOC FOR ITA/MAC/OIPR, CATHERINE PETERS 
 
E.O. 12958:N/A 
TAGS: ECON ETRD KIPR GH
SUBJECT: 2008 SPECIAL 301 REVIEW - GHANA 
 
REF: STATE 9475 
 
¶1. Summary: Ghana has made progress in recent years in protecting 
intellectual property rights (IPR) under both domestic and 
international law.  Most domestic intellectual property laws have 
been revised to become compliant with Trade-Related Aspects of 
Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS).  The number of pirated and 
counterfeit goods is rising, largely smuggled from countries in the 
Far and Middle East.  The government of Ghana provides limited 
resources for IPR protection, but law enforcement institutions have 
been increasingly active in working directly with the authorized 
producers.  Because of Ghana's progress in protecting IPR and the 
government's responsiveness when U.S. companies in Ghana raise IPR 
concerns, post recommends against 301 list placement for Ghana.  End 
Summary. 
 
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Production, Import, and Export of Counterfeit Goods 
--------------------------------------------- ------ 
 
¶2.  The production and export of counterfeit goods is negligible. 
However, the import (usually through smuggling) of counterfeit goods 
is on the rise.  The Customs, Excise and Preventive Service (CEPS) 
occasionally seizes and destroys smuggled goods but many still find 
their way into the market. 
 
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Enforcement 
----------- 
 
¶3.  Ghana has no central coordinating body for IPR enforcement.  IPR 
enforcement bodies are CEPS, the Judiciary, and the Ghana Police 
Service.  The Registrar-General's Department (RGD) registers all IP 
rights except copyrights.  The Copyright Office, within the Ministry 
of Justice, registers copyrights. 
 
¶4.  CEPS seizes and destroys pirated and counterfeit goods only if 
they have notification from either a court, the RGD, or the 
Copyright Office. In November 2005, CEPS seized over 109 million 
counterfeit Marlboro cigarettes smuggled from China.  CEPS destroyed 
the cigarettes in November 2006 in collaboration with Philip Morris 
Inc. and after substantial advocacy from post.  CEPS in 2008 signed 
an MOU with the local organizers of a major African soccer 
tournament in Accra to protect license holders of logos and mascots 
of the event. This effort was largely successful.  CEPS also has 
ongoing agreements with companies like Unilever, where trademark 
owners give clearance for imported items bearing their trademarks. 
The Copyright office occasionally calls on the police to conduct 
raids on sellers of audio and video materials. 
 
¶5.  There is no IP court, but a commercial court was established in 
Accra in 2005 to try commercial cases including IP cases.  The 
commercial court judges have been trained to handle IP cases.  Only 
a few trademark, patent, and copyright infringement cases have been 
filed in Ghana. 
 
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Optical Media Piracy 
-------------------- 
 
¶6.  Piracy of protected optical media is known to take place, 
although there is no reliable information on the scale of this 
activity.  Katamanto is a local market in Accra well known for 
pirated audio-visual materials.  It has been a major target for 
raids by IP enforcement agencies. 
 
¶7.  Most of the optical media in Ghana are made in the Far East and 
smuggled into Ghana through Togo.  A monitoring unit was established 
by the Copyright Office, housed within the Ministry of Justice, to 
combat this problem.  The administrator of the office believes that 
the job of identifying genuine works would be easier if the 
Copyright Office had a direct arrangement with the rights owners to 
track the import and movement of products within the country. 
 
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Use/Procurement of Computer Software by GoG 
------------------------------------------- 
 
¶8.  There is no stated government policy to ensure that the use of 
software complies with national and international standards of 
copyright protection.  There is widespread government use of illegal 
software.  Buyers are often unaware the software is illegal and 
rights owners are not in Ghana to monitor replications.  Three years 
ago, Microsoft's office in Nigeria established a compliance office 
in Ghana, working together with the Copyright Office to check 
illegal use of its products.  Some government institutions only 
purchase from authorized dealers because of the support and training 
that accompanies genuine products. 
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Data Protection 
--------------- 
 
¶9.  The Food and Drugs Board (FDB), the Environmental Protection 
Agency, and the Ministry of Food and Agriculture are guided by the 
Protection Against Unfair Competition Act, which includes protection 
of pharmaceutical and agricultural test data.  The FDB finds it 
increasingly difficult to monitor the quality of similar products 
entering the market from different countries and/or companies.  It 
plans to revise its mandate, which currently does not allow it to 
track products to the original producer. 
 
--------------------------------------------- 
TRIPS Compliance and Domestic IPR Legislation 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
¶10.  In the past five years Ghana's parliament has passed all six 
bills designed to bring Ghana into compliance with WTO TRIPS 
requirements.  These are Copyright, Trade Marks, Patents, 
Layout-Designs (Topographies) of Integrated Circuits, Geographical 
Indications, and Industrial Designs laws. 
 
¶11.  Although these new laws have been passed, subsidiary 
legislation (Legislative Instruments or LIs) is required to define 
the procedures for IPR registration and enforcement.  LIs under some 
of the inadequate old laws are still in force pending formal 
amendment.  According to an attorney at the Registrar-General's 
(RGD) office, registration of industrial designs (except textiles), 
layout-designs of integrated circuits, and geographical indications 
are not possible because there are no new LIs in place to enforce 
them. A draft LI for the Copyright law has been prepared and is 
expected to be placed before parliament by the end of February 2008. 
 The RGD expects to prepare a national policy on IP, review the 
other five laws, and pass the accompanying LIs before the end of 
¶2008. 
 
¶12.  In some cases the GoG has found ways to implement new IPR 
protection without amending old LIs.  For example, the Trademarks 
Regulation LI 667 of 1970 is still in force because Section 53 (5) 
of the new Trademarks Act 664 of 2004 requires that LI 667 be 
officially amended, which has not happened.  Nonetheless, the new 
2004 law extends the registration of trademarks for goods to include 
trademarks for services, which goes beyond coverage in LI 667.  The 
Registrar-General has been allowing the registration of service 
trademarks since December 1, 2004. 
 
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Treaties 
-------- 
 
¶13. In 2004, Ghana's parliament ratified the World Intellectual 
Property Organization (WIPO) internet treaties, namely the WIPO 
Copyright Treaty, and the WIPO Performance and Phonograms Treaty. 
Ghana deposited its instrument of ratification with WIPO in August 
¶2006. 
 
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Recommendation 
-------------- 
 
¶14.  Post recommends that Ghana not be placed on a 301 Watch List. 
Ghana has passed laws to bring it into compliance with its 
international commitments and the GOG is sensitive to IPR protection 
needs, and while it should give the matter higher priority, the GoG 
is eager to take advantage of training opportunities from USPTO and 
has begun to agree to bear some costs associated with that training. 
 The government initiates raids on pirated goods and makes good 
faith efforts to respond to IPR concerns raised by the United States 
or U.S. companies in Ghana.  For example, in the case of counterfeit 
Marlboro cigarettes, the GOG addressed the problem to the 
satisfaction of Philip Morris Inc.  In addition, the market in Ghana 
is small and local piracy has a limited impact on U.S. products. 
 
Bridgewater