especially at the Warsaw Stadium, and to correct the deficiencies in its patent and data protection laws.
Romania
Piracy of sound recordings, audiovisual products (videos, broadcast television and cable television), and business and entertainment software continues at very high rates despite reforms to the legal regime. In addition, Romania has not established civil ex parte search procedures, as required by the TRIPS Agreement. These procedures would significantly help in combating piracy of computer software. Inconsistent enforcement of intellectual property rights legislation, the low level of priority given piracy by regional and local authorities, and the lack of resources dedicated to combating piracy combine to make intellectual property protection a major challenge for Romania. We encourage Romania to increase its efforts to combat piracy and to finally provide civil ex parte search procedures consistent with its obligations under the TRIPS Agreement.
Saudi Arabia
As part of its effort to accede to the WTO, Saudi Arabia is currently working with WTO Members to revise its intellectual property laws. Saudi Arabia has apparently drafted revised legislation, which is under review in the Bureau of Experts at the Council of Ministers, but has not provided an opportunity for WTO Members to review the legislation to ensure compliance with the TRIPS Agreement. In practice, Saudi Arabia has respected U.S. patents, and there have not yet been any major incidences of patent infringement. However, U.S. pharmaceutical companies report that a local Saudi company has recently attempted to register unauthorized copies of patented U.S. pharmaceutical products with the Saudi Ministry of Health. Enforcement actions against copyright infringement are not carried out with sufficient regularity and are not accompanied by the appropriate level of publicity and sentences to reduce the level of piracy, thus piracy rates in Saudi Arabia remain high. We look to Saudi Arabia to pursue sustained and deterrent enforcement actions against copyright infringement and continue the process of legalizing software used by government entities. We urge Saudi Arabia to also revise its intellectual property laws to bring them into conformity with the TRIPS Agreement in the near term.
Slovakia
Slovakia's protection of confidential pharmaceutical test data submitted to obtain marketing approval is seriously undercut by a provision that shortens the term of protection in certain cases: Slovakia currently reduces its six-year period of data exclusivity to the extent the data was submitted earlier in an European Union member state. This shortcoming greatly diminishes, or eliminates altogether, the protection of confidential test data. Moreover, Slovakia's patent protection regime has some important deficiencies: it fails to extend process patent terms from 15 to 20 years for all subsisting patents, as required by the TRIPS Agreement; it lacks clarity about the availability of preliminary injunctions in infringements actions; and it has no explicit provision for relief against contributory infringement in patent cases. In the copyright area, Slovakia still lacks civil ex parte search procedures and there is doubt as to whether the amended Copyright Act provides protection for pre-existing works and sound recordings. Finally, border enforcement measures are needed to allow customs and border officials to seize pirated and
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