Cablegate: Possible China Ipr Case: Demarche to France

VZCZCXRO9441
PP RUEHAG RUEHDF RUEHIK RUEHLZ
DE RUEHFR #5655 2360643
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 240643Z AUG 06
FM AMEMBASSY PARIS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0609
INFO RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 1304
RUCPDOC/USDOC WASHDC

UNCLAS PARIS 005655

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

SIPDIS

STATE FOR EAP/CM-CHASE, EB/TPP/BTA-SAEGER, AND
EB/TPP/IPE-FELSING

STATE PASS USTR FOR POSNER, WINTER, AND MCCOY

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ECON ETRD AORC KIPR EURM WTRO CH FR
SUBJECT: POSSIBLE CHINA IPR CASE: DEMARCHE TO FRANCE

1. (U) Economic Minister-Counselor met August 22 with Philippe
Pegorier, technical advisor in the cabinet of Trade Minister
Lagarde, and Bertrand Walckenaer, Finance Ministry desk officer
for China, to deliver reftel demarche.

2. (SBU) The GOF is very focused on intellectual property (IP)
enforcement in China and, in fact, has assigned an IP attache to
their embassy in Beijing (from the French National Institute for
Intellectual Property, INPI). Pegorier stressed that the issue
of IP protection is raised at every bilateral economic gathering
with the PRC, including at the Ministerial level. French
company losses due to counterfeiting, piracy and other IP
infringement in China amount to over a billion dollars per year.
(Italy, however, according to Pegorier, is the number one
French IP infringer.)

3. (SBU) Despite the extent of the IP problem in China, the GOF
sees some progress being made by the PRC authorities to improve
the legal and regulatory framework for IP protection, and to
increase public awareness of its importance. Lackluster
enforcement at the local level and weak institutional capacity
remain major challenges. The GOF has taken a number of
initiatives in recent years: operating a technical assistance
program with the Chinese trademark office and the State
Intellectual Property Office SIPO, training Chinese IP officials
in France, organizing training and seminars for judges and
custom officials, etc. A major Franco-Chinese
anti-counterfeiting symposium is being organized by INPI and
SIPO in 2007.

4. (SBU) In responding to our call for GOF and EU support for a
possible joint WTO case, Pegorier said that, in the choice
between carrot and stick, the GOF believes that more will be
achieved in the long run by working with PRC authorities on
collaborative programs to build institutional capacity, improve
enforcement resources, and expand public awareness. Both
Pegorier and Walckenaer claimed that there have been few
specific complaints from French firms about the issue of
value/volume thresholds for criminal prosecution, although both
admit that this is a problem area.

5. (SBU) COMMENT. Pegorier stopped short of saying that France
would not support EU co-filing of a WTO case, although it seems
clear that such a move will not get a favorable push from Paris.
He promised to brief Trade Minister Lagarde, who returns to
Paris on August 24.

ROSENBLATT

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