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  • On July 26, Moldova became a member of the WTO and obligated itself to fully comply with the TRIPS Agreement on that date.
  • With the entry into force of the new Trademark Law, Nicaragua now has modernized laws on patents, integrated circuit design, plant variety protection, program signals, copyrights and trademarks.

August

  • On August 3, Kazakhstan became a party to the Geneva Convention for the Protection of Producers of Phonograms Against Unauthorized Duplication of Their Phonograms.
  • On August 6, the President of the Philippines approved an act providing for the protection of layout-designs (topographies) of integrated circuits, in an effort to comply with Section 6 of the TRIPS Agreement.
  • On August 22, the Philippine National Police (PNP) created a unit called the Anti-Fraud and Commercial Crime Division (AFCCD) that will address IPR violations.

September

  • Ukraine's copyright amendments, passed in July 2001, which included protection for pre-existing works and sound recordings, became effective.
  • On September 1, amendments to Ukraine's criminal code, which included criminal liability for IPR violations, went into force.
  • On September 15, Malaysia's Optical Disc Act came into effect. The law establishes a licensing and regulatory framework for manufacturing copyrighted works. Violations under the Act may lead to license revocation, seizure, and forfeiture of manufacturing equipment and significant fines and jail terms.
  • Ukraine ratified the WIPO Copyright Treaty and the WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty. It deposited its instrument of accession in November 2001.
  • On September 1, Azerbaijan became a party to the .
  • On September 26, the Government of Kazakhstan issued a resolution (#1249) instructing the appropriate government ministries to draft laws and regulations that would remedy the acknowledged deficiencies in the Kazakh enforcement regime.

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