Is IP On Obama's Russia Agenda?
President Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev held their first joint press conference in Moscow on Monday where they spoke about plans to reset the countries' relationship. The pair released a statement outlining a new framework for arms reduction and announced the creation of a bilateral commission with working groups focused on a range of topics including: nuclear energy; arms control; foreign policy and fighting terrorism; drug trafficking; business development and economic relations; energy and environment; agriculture; science and technologies; space cooperation; health; handling of emergency situations; civil society; and educational and cultural exchanges.
Additional working groups will be created and announced in the coming months, along with sub-groups under each working group as appropriate, officials said. While it was not explicitly mentioned, intellectual property policy -- namely anti-piracy and counterfeiting measures -- could easily fit into one or more of those categories. Russia regularly ranks among the top offenders in assessments of global IP infringement. In its annual "Special 301" report, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative noted serious concerns with Russia but credited positive steps taken by the government like the nation's accession to the World Intellectual Property Organization's Internet treaties.
The International Intellectual Property Alliance, which represents the American music, movie, software, and video game industries, told the USTR earlier this year that Russia's "enforcement efforts generally remain inadequate, and the copyright industries continue to await sustained, effective and deterrent enforcement, enhanced legal reform, and greater market access for legitimate copyrighted materials." The country has not met its obligations under a 2006 IP agreement with the United States and must take action against entities that knowingly distribute infringing products, combat the growing threat of Internet piracy, and address illegal optical disc manufacturing, IIPA stated. Read more from IIPA here.
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