VZCZCXYZ0001
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHSJ #0609/01 2021453
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 211453Z JUL 09
FM AMEMBASSY SAN JOSE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 1048
INFO RUEHZA/WHA CENTRAL AMERICAN COLLECTIVE
RUEHBU/AMEMBASSY BUENOS AIRES 0335
RUEHSN/AMEMBASSY SAN SALVADOR 5790
RUEAWJA/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHINGTON DC

UNCLAS SAN JOSE 000609 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
EEB/TPP/IPE FOR JURBAN AND SKEAT, AND INL/C/CP FOR JVIGIL 
PLEASE PASS TO DOJ FOR BLIPMAN 
PLEASE PASS TO USTR FOR DOLIVER, AMALITO AND GVETERE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ETRD ECON KIPR PGOV PREL CS
SUBJECT: COSTA RICA: STRATEGY FOR ADVANCING IPR 
 
SUBJECT:  COSTA RICA: IPR TRAINING WEEK A SUCCESS 
REF: SAN JOSE 168 
 
¶1. (U) SUMMARY: The Judicial School of Costa Rica hosted a three-day 
workshop in June for 17 Costa Rican judges, supported by the U.S. 
Department of Justice's Office of Overseas Prosecutorial 
Development, Assistance, and Training (OPDAT) and Embassy San Jose. 
Participants drafted a bench book that will serve as a guide for 
judicial cases on intellectual property rights (IPR).  As a 
counterpoint to that effective "hands-on" activity, producers of 
intellectual property -- musicians, film makers, and software 
engineers -- made presentations on the necessity to enforce IPR laws 
in order to protect and grow cultural and economic assets.  Guest 
judges from Argentina, El Salvador, Puerto Rico, and Florida 
assisted in the bench book drafting process and provided experience 
and insight on IPR issues for the participating local judges. 
Complementing the judges' workshop, Post organized a private sector 
attorney round table on IPR featuring several of the visiting 
judges.  In addition, Post programmed an IPR speaker who presented 
basic, intermediate, and advanced presentations to three different 
audiences.  This IPR week is another component in Post's overall 
strategy to improve IPR enforcement in Costa Rica (reftel).  END 
SUMMARY. 
 
------------------------ 
TRAINING WITH A DEADLINE 
------------------------ 
 
¶2. (U) Embassy San Jose organized a "Judicial Exchange" workshop 
June 23-25, 2009 which facilitated the drafting of a bench book for 
Costa Rican judges to use in resolving IPR cases in accordance with 
local laws and treaty obligations.  Costa Rica's Judicial School, 
led by Director Marvin Carvajal, hosted the workshop.  OPDAT 
provided budget support through State INL funds.  During the first 
session, OPDAT's Robert Lipman established the importance of a bench 
book, which would serve as a compendium of IPR law and precedent for 
judges to use as a guide when hearing IPR cases.  OPDAT's 
programming included four guest judges:  Ariel O. Lijo of Argentina, 
Sandra Luz Chicas Bautista of El Salvador, Juan M. Perez Gimenez of 
Puerto Rico, and Virginia M. Hernandez Covington from the U.S. 
Judges Lijo and Chicas emphasized that an IPR bench book has been 
very relevant to IPR enforcement in their respective countries. 
 
¶3. (U) To help the participants understand how the bench book would 
be used, Lipman explained how the Toyota Business Model strategy 
(plan, implement, learn, and improve) could be applied to a bench 
book.  The judges would draft a plan in the form of a bench book, 
implement that plan by presiding over cases, learn from the result 
of implementation, and make the necessary changes that will come 
about as legislation evolves and new laws or violations take place. 
Thus, a bench book drafted by Costa Rican judges establishes 
"buy-in" to IPR, serves as a resource with IPR cases, and becomes a 
dynamic document. 
 
---------------------------------- 
WORKING IN GROUPS WITH EXPERT HELP 
---------------------------------- 
 
¶4. (U) The local judges formed four groups to cover specific IPR 
topics, including: (1) principles underlying intellectual crimes, 
(2) techniques of investigation, (3) possible crimes, and (4) 
confiscation and seizure.  Each group researched the relevant Costa 
Rican laws concerning their topic and compiled a 
presentation/viewpoint on that topic.  During this "hands-on" 
drafting experience, the guest judges shared their expertise and 
insights on IPR cases on how to compile the bench book.  OPDAT was 
pleased that the Costa Ricans were able to draft a bench book in two 
and one half days. 
 
¶5. (U) The following Costa Rican judges participated: 
 
-- Adriana Jarquin Coto - Penal Judge 
-- Elizabeth Montero Mena - Penal Judge 
-- Mario Porras Villalta - Penal Judge 
-- Marjorie Alvarez Morales - Penal Judge 
-- Alvaro Hernandez Aguilar - Civil Judge 
-- Elieth Vargas Ulate - Civil Judge 
-- Guillermo Guila Alvarado - Civil Judge 
-- Juan Carlos Brenes Vargas - Civil Judge 
-- Juan Carlos Sanchez Benavides - Civil Judge 
-- Marvin Arce Portuguez - Civil Judge 
-- Estefana Brenes Alfaro - Traffic Judge 
-- Marco Troyo Cordero - Constitutional Court room 
-- Jorge Luis Cambronero Jimenez - First Court room 
-- Manuel Fernando Jimenez Aguilar - First Court room 
-- Alejandra Valenciano Chinchilla - Third Court room 
-- Ricardo Rodriguez Vega - Special Collection Judge 
-- Ronald Eduardo Segura Mena - Prosecutor, Economic Crimes 
 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
HOW TO UNDERSTAND IPR?  TALK TO A CREATIVE PERSON 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
 
¶6. (U) During the workshop, invited artists, producers and media 
experts made presentations, joined discussions, and shared their 
understanding and experience on IPR from the "victims" point of 
view.  Mauricio Cortez, General Manager of International Channel 
DestinosTV, writes, produces, and shoots documentaries showing the 
beauty of Costa Rica.  He explained the importance of protecting 
intellectual property by directly stating, "Without our material, we 
have no business."  He spoke of the importance of sales of images to 
foreign buyers and noted that local producers of video images for 
tourism or promotional purposes often rob images with little concern 
for IPR. 
 
¶7. (U) The following guest speakers made appearances at the three 
day workshop: 
 
-- Marvin Araya, Director of the Philharmonic Orchestra Costa Rica 
and President of the Artist's Association (AIE); 
 
-- Mauricio Cortes, General Manager of International Channel 
DestinosTV; 
 
-- Arnoldo Castillo, Singer/Producer; 
 
-- Luis Monje, Music Producer; and 
 
-- Alex Mora, General Manager of Tecapro, together with Otto Rivera, 
Executive Director of Costa Rican Chamber of Information Technology 
and Communication (CAMTIC). 
 
------------------------------------------- 
TRAINING REVEALS THE NEED FOR MORE TRAINING 
------------------------------------------- 
 
¶8. (U) By workshop's end, the participants concluded that they 
needed to continue working on the bench book draft to ensure that a 
practical, finished product be completed.  As a result, 
post-workshop, the participants requested more training as they 
realized that they knew little about prosecuting IPR violations. 
With a new enthusiasm towards the subject, plans are underway for 
future training sessions. 
 
---------------------------- 
A PRIVATE SECTOR ROUND TABLE 
---------------------------- 
 
¶9. (U) The law firm of Arias & Munoz, in conjunction with Embassy 
San Jose, held a round table session on June 22, 2009 (the day prior 
to the workshop) at the firm's offices.  The round table was 
designed to encourage private law IPR practitioners by taking 
advantage of the presence of the visiting foreign judges.  Maria del 
Rocio Cerdas Quesada from the College of Lawyers of Costa Rica 
presented an entertaining and informative overview of Costa Rican 
laws for IPR.  The visiting judges and local participants then 
followed with a general discussion.  The presentation helped set the 
tone for the next few days by providing a primer of where IPR law 
stands in Costa Rica and the status of enforcement.  It also 
provided an excellent background for the visiting judges (three of 
four participated).  Many local lawyers appreciated the presentation 
and tagged the seminar as a success. 
 
------------------- 
SPEAKING OUT ON IPR 
------------------- 
 
¶10. (U) Federal Trade Commission attorney Armando Irizarry participated 
in a multi-purpose Econ-Public Affairs speaker program on IPR. 
Irizarry, on TDY in Honduras to assist with competitiveness in the 
CAFTA-DR countries, presented programs to three different audiences 
June 29-30 and July 1, in San Jose.  On June 29, he offered an IPR 
overview to students at the University of Costa Rica, and later 
presided over a discussion with CANARA (National Chamber of Radio). 
On June 30, he addressed a larger and more diverse group at the 
National Assembly, where Deputy Fernando Sanchez (Liberacion) and 
Embassy San Jose Econ Chief Mark Kissel introduced Irizarry and 
underscored the importance of his message.  The Assembly 
presentation was followed by another discussion with a select 
private sector group hosted by AmCham.  On July 1, Irizarry directed 
his IPR presentation to the theatrical community in Costa Rica, 
addressing the often complex process of obtaining rights as an 
integral part of mounting artistic productions.  Irizarry was well 
received by all three audiences.  However, Post realized that 
presenting "advanced sessions" on IPR requires more upfront planning 
and will work this into future programming. 
 
---------- 
NEXT STEPS 
---------- 
 
¶11. (U) There are five important "next steps" that will continue the 
work of the three-day workshop.  First, the bench book exists in 
draft form which will be refined and updated.  The Judicial School 
proposed an electronic forum to facilitate communication among 
judges for editing and revising the bench book and sharing ideas, 
information, and concerns on IPR.  Second, the bench book will be 
completed and distributed throughout Costa Rica.  Third, the 
Judicial School will present several IPR training sessions at the 
University of Costa Rica while CAMTIC will work with the Judicial 
School to train judges in software licensing and IPR protections. 
Fourth, OPDAT's Lipman proposed a study trip to Puerto Rico by four 
of the participants and Director Carvajal.  Hosted by Judge 
Perez-Gimenez, the participants will observe first-hand the judicial 
management of IPR cases. 
 
¶12. (SBU) Independent of the above, Embassy San Jose needs to 
develop the fifth step for the private sector.  Criminal and civil 
case prosecutions are both important to advancing IPR in Costa Rica. 
 Though we do not have a specific plan at the moment, we will work 
with key private sector attorneys and associations on the form and 
content of future training for this important part of advancing IPR 
in Costa Rica.  Given the Attorney General's stated focus on higher 
priority criminal cases, and the relatively few GOCR resources 
dedicated thus far to IPR enforcement and prosecution, private 
sector attorneys can play a key role in taking IPR cases to the 
court system and pushing them to completion. 
 
------- 
COMMENT 
------- 
 
¶13. (SBU) The "Judicial Exchange" training sessions exceeded the 
expectations of all involved, with notable camaraderie formed within 
a circle of Costa Rican judges, and between Costa Rica and the U.S., 
on IPR.  In addition, Costa Rican judges now have a link with 
colleagues in Argentina, El Salvador and Puerto Rico, Latin American 
societies that are advancing IPR protection.  Though the workshop 
was the first phase of in-country training, it complements ongoing 
Global Intellectual Property Academy training and serves to expand 
the number of Costa Ricans participating in USG IPR training.  Our 
IPR strategy aims to influence as many decision makers and 
practitioners as possible on IPR enforcement and prosecution. 
 
BRENNAN