Kuwait
Kuwait remains on the Watch List in 2013. The United States is seriously concerned that key IPR legislation remains pending in Kuwait, including amendments to the 1999 copyright law that have been drafted for several years but have not yet been submitted to Parliament. Although Kuwaiti officials continued enforcement efforts in the past year, there remains an ongoing lack of deterrent-level sentences for IPR crimes as well as insufficient resources allocated to enforcement at the border. The United States urges Kuwait to amend its copyright law to provide adequate and effective protection, and looks forward to continuing to work with Kuwait to address these and other IPR concerns.
Lebanon
Lebanon remains on the Watch List in 2013. The United States is concerned that there has not been any progress on any of the pending IPR legislative reforms, including amendments to Lebanon's patent and copyright laws. Lebanon also has not completed its accession to the WIPO Internet Treaties, despite ratification of these treaties by Parliament in 2010, and several IPR treaties that have been approved by the Cabinet still await parliamentary approval, including the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property, the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works, the Singapore Treaty on the Law of Trademarks, and the Patent Cooperation Treaty. Additionally, Lebanon should provide its enforcement authorities with ex officio authority. The United States encourages Lebanon to clarify its protection against the unfair commercial use, as well as unauthorized disclosure, of undisclosed test or other data generated to obtain marketing approval of pharmaceutical products. Further, the manufacture and sale of counterfeit drugs remain a concern in Lebanon. A lack of transparency in the pharmaceutical registration process reportedly has enabled the registration of counterfeit products. However, the United States commends Lebanese enforcement officials for successfully conducting raids targeting sellers of counterfeit goods, including counterfeit pharmaceuticals. The United States is also encouraged that Lebanon has launched an online registration service for copyrights and trademarks. The United States looks forward to continuing to work with Lebanon to address these and other issues.
Mexico
Mexico remains on the Watch List in 2013. Positive developments in 2012 included Mexico's accession to the Madrid Protocol, the adoption of guidelines for protection of pharmaceutical test data, and clarification of the scope of its system for addressing patent issues expeditiously in connection with applications to market pharmaceutical products. However, serious concerns remain, particularly with respect to the widespread availability of pirated and counterfeit goods in Mexico and inadequate IPR enforcement. Criminal enforcement suffers from increased but inefficient coordination among federal and subfederal officials. In addition, to combat high levels of IPR infringement, Mexico needs to devote additional resources, bring more IPR prosecutions, and impose deterrent penalties against infringers. The United States continues to
51
