VZCZCXRO4814
RR RUEHDBU RUEHLN RUEHSK RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHNT #0285/01 0750618
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 160618Z MAR 09
FM AMEMBASSY TASHKENT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0604
INFO CIS COLLECTIVE
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHINGTON DC
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 0054
RUEHBUL/AMEMBASSY KABUL 0050
RUEHIL/AMEMBASSY ISLAMABAD 0191
RUEHKA/AMEMBASSY DHAKA 0153
RUEHKT/AMEMBASSY KATHMANDU 0150
RUEHLM/AMEMBASSY COLOMBO 0153
RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI 0184
RUEHNT/AMEMBASSY TASHKENT

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 TASHKENT 000285 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
DEPARTMENT FOR SCA/CEN 
PASS TO USTR JENNIFER CHOE 
GROVES 
DEPARTMENT FOR EEB/TPP/IPE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECON ETRD KIPR UZ
SUBJECT: UZBEKISTAN:  THE IMPOSSIBLE IPR DREAM? 
 
REF: 08 TASHKENT 239 09 TASHKENT 235 
 
TASHKENT 00000285  001.2 OF 003 
 
 
¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY.  On March 10 Ibragim Amanbaev, 
Acting Director of the Uzbek Copyright Agency, 
brought us up to date on the current status of IPR 
legislation and enforcement in Uzbekistan.  The 
picture he painted was one of an underfunded, 
understaffed agency in which a total of four IPR 
inspectors are responsible for the entire country. 
We were impressed, however, with the earnestness of 
Amanbaev and his staff and the work that his agency 
is doing under difficult conditions.  The Uzbek 
Copyright Agency would welcome, and we support, 
assistance and training programs through USPTO, the 
Department of Commerce, and other U.S. agencies. 
END SUMMARY 
 
 
FROM SOVIET ASHES:  DEVELOPMENT OF IPR IN 
UZBEKISTAN 
--------------------------------------------- ------ 
- 
 
¶2. (SBU) On March 10 we met with Ibragim Amanbaev, 
Acting Director of Uzbek Copyright Agency (UCA), to 
get an understanding of how protection of 
Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) is progressing 
in Uzbekistan.  Today's UCA had its origin as the 
Uzbek branch of the Soviet Union's All-Union 
Copyright Agency, an organization that had no 
concept of IPR as it existed in the rest of the 
world.  UCA became a standalone agency after 
Uzbekistan gained independence in 1991.  For most 
of the eighteen years since then, UCA has operated 
on the basis of Presidential decrees and 
instructions issued by the Government of Uzbekistan 
(GOU). 
 
¶3. (SBU) Uzbekistan has the long-term goal of 
joining the World Trade Organization (WTO). 
Consequently, the GOU has been attempting to 
develop IPR legislation in accordance with the 
requirements and standards of the WTO's Agreement 
on Trade Aspects of Intellectual Property.  In the 
summer of 2006 the GOU finally adopted a law on 
copyrights and allied rights, which created the 
legal framework for further IPR development and 
enforcement in Uzbekistan.  The law also aimed to 
bring Uzbekistan into accordance with the Bern 
Convention on Protection of Literature and Art 
Products.  When it joined the Bern Convention, 
however, Uzbekistan did so with caveats on Article 
18 (ref A). 
 
CURRENT STATE OF IPR 
-------------------- 
 
¶4. (SBU) Since 2006 the UCA has acted in accordance 
with the 2006 IPR law and several other regulatory 
documents issued in 2007 and 2008.  UCA is doing 
its best to keep IPR issues on the GOU's agenda 
with the goal of improving both legislation and 
enforcement.  Amanbaev said, however, that the 
Uzbek market is not ready for strict IPR 
enforcement since the very concept of IPR is new to 
Uzbekistan. UCA is doing its best to educate the 
population, market players, businesses, authors, 
and copyright holders via frequent articles in the 
mass media.  Nevertheless, lack of understanding of 
what IPR stands for continues to create confusion 
and loose enforcement. 
 
¶5. (SBU) Amanbaev continued that there are still 
many holes in Uzbekistan's IPR legislation and 
enforcement.  A good example is licensing.  For 
 
TASHKENT 00000285  002.2 OF 003 
 
 
example, the Uzbek Movie Agency Uzbekkino issues 
licenses to produce movies, and local government 
agencies issue licenses to entrepreneurs to 
reproduce and sell CDs and DVDs.  But neither 
Uzbekkino nor the local agencies have a role in IPR 
enforcement.  Thus UCA has requested that the GOU 
appoint it as the single agency to issue licenses 
and enforce IPR.  UCA is working with the GOU to 
identify a broad spectrum of IPR issues that must 
be addressed in order to have comprehensive 
legislation and an empowered UCA that has full IPR 
enforcement authority and the tools to regulate the 
market. 
 
¶6. (SBU) Amanbaev acknowledged that imperfect 
legislation makes it hard to fight counterfeiting. 
Moreover, most copyright holders do not take the 
initiative to protect their copyrights or even to 
make their works available in a legal, licensed 
product. In the absence of claims from 
manufacturers and authors, UCA can not take action 
to protect them. 
 
FOUR IPR INSPECTORS FOR AN ENTIRE COUNTRY 
----------------------------------------- 
 
¶7. (SBU) UCA faces organizational hurdles too.  To 
begin with, it has a staff of only sixteen.  Of 
these, only 4 (FOUR) are actual IPR inspectors. 
The rest are administrative staff.  Thus 4 IPR 
inspectors have responsibility for IPR 
investigations in a country of 27 million.  These 4 
inspectors are based in Tashkent, and UCA has no 
presence in the provinces. 
 
¶8. (SBU) Even if he had the money to hire 
additional staff, Amanbaev said it would be almost 
impossible to find qualified inspectors.  There are 
no programs in Uzbekistan to train IPR specialists. 
Amanbaev said he wants to strengthen his 
organization's capacity and that training is key. 
He said he would be very interested in working with 
appropriate U.S. agencies on IPR issues and would 
welcome opportunities to send his staff to the U.S. 
for training and to participate in IPR programs. 
 
¶9. (SBU) Amanbaev told us his main task for the 
future is to continue working within the GOU -- 
through amendments to the 2006 IPR law if necessary 
-- to give his agency more enforcement authority 
and make it the sole organization responsible for 
IPR issues in Uzbekistan.  To date, he continued, 
UCA has had to turn to other law enforcement 
agencies -- for example the tax agency, the 
prosecutors office, and police --to conduct raids 
on vendors of counterfeit DVDs and CDs.  He said 
UCA needs to establish branches in every region of 
the country in order to provide IPR protection at 
regional and local levels. 
 
COMMENT 
------- 
 
¶10. (SBU) UCA clearly is still in the position of 
having to prove its worth to the GOU, but from 
Amanbaev's description it appears that UCA's 
standing has improved in recent years.  UCA now has 
some influence, and its role is likely to increase 
if the GOU wishes to pursue WTO membership 
seriously.  Adequate IPR protection will be 
necessary if Uzbekistan is to have any chance of 
WTO membership. 
 
¶11. (SBU) As we left, we stood with Mr. Amanbaev on 
the steps of the Copyright Agency and looked across 
 
TASHKENT 00000285  003.2 OF 003 
 
 
Navoi Street to Tashkent's largest, most popular 
string of electronics shops and stalls.  We 
expressed our doubt that it would be possible to 
find a single licensed CD or DVD for sale in these 
shops (ref B), and Amanbaev did not protest. 
 
¶12. (SBU) Post strongly supports UCA's 
participation in training programs through USPTO, 
the Department of Commerce, and other U.S. 
agencies.  We sensed sincerity in Mr. Amanbaev and 
his associates and a vision that someday his agency 
would have the power and authority to bring 
Uzbekistan into the modern world of IPR.  Meanwhile 
we are haunted by the thought that 4 lonely IPR 
inspectors are traveling the potholed byways of 
Uzbekistan, tilting at windmills, and dreaming the 
impossible dream. 
NORLAND