Call for Cooperation in Intellectual Property Rights Protection

Riga, Latvia — Seeking a radical improvement in intellectual property rights protection, six non-government organisations have submitted a joint proposal to Latvia's Prime Minister.

Working together over a three month period, 6 organizations of the rights' owners represented in Latvia have collated the amendments necessary to 9 Laws and 7 Cabinet Regulations which would improve the protection of intellectual property rights in Latvia. A number of steps to increase the administrative capacity have also been identified to ensure more efficient application of the existing laws.

The Coalition for Intellectual Property Rights (CIPR), the Latvian Committee of the Business Software Alliance (BSA), the Latvian Association of Performers and Producers (LaIPA), the Latvian Music Producers' Association (LaMPA), the Latvian Authors' Association and the Latvian Copyright Agency (AKKA/LAA) have made clear their readiness to work constructively with the government to achieve a radical improvement to the existing situation.

The present situation is critical. The protection of intellectual property rights is a priority issue for all countries wishing to develop businesses with high intellectual capacity. The trade in pirated and counterfeit goods is considered to be a global threat, one for which, according to the assessment of rights' owners, Latvia is not ready on the eve of its accession to the EU. This view is supported by this year's report of the IIPA(International Intellectual Property Alliance), as well as Latvia's continuing inclusion in the USA government's "Special 301 Report" of countries in which intellectual property rights protection is considered inadequate.

Latvian Government Regulations No. 469, "Concept for the amendment of legislation regulating protection of intellectual property rights " issued on 25 July can be viewed as positive, yet insufficient step in the right direction.

The non-government organisations nominated Romans Baumanis, the CIPR Representative in the Baltic States, to be co-ordinator of further dialogue with the Latvian government. Working in a spirit of constructive co-operation, CIPR has already successfully co-ordinated the drafting and passing of amendments to IP legislation in other countries, for example, Russia and the Ukraine.

CIPR represents a number of owners of world-renowned brands, including Anheuser-Busch, British American Tobacco, Coca-Cola, Dell Computer, Diageo, Gallaher, Guinness UDV, Intel, Kraft Foods, Microsoft, Pfizer, Philip Morris and Tiffany. CIPR's mission is to strengthen the protection of intellectual property rights by facilitating cooperation between governments and the private sector.