0 Venezuela among countries with high "piracy" levels

Venezuela is among the 12 countries included in the priority watch list of Intellectual Property Right (IPR) violations, according to a report of the United States Department of Commerce.

The study -which is known as 301 Report- kept Venezuela on the "black list" one more year. "Venezuela remains on the priority watch list. The protection and execution of the Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) were jeopardized again in 2010," according to the report.

The report also explained that the "reinstatement" of the 1955 Industrial Property Law, after Venezuela withdrew from the Andean Community of Nations (CAN), "suppressed" protections for inventions and creations that were patentable while the country abode by the CAN legal framework in this matter.

In fact, two years after Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez announced that his country would pull out from the CAN, the Autonomous Service of Intellectual Property (SAPI) issued a press release reinstating the 1955 Industrial Property Law, to the detriment of the Decision 486 of the Andean body.

The report also stressed that copyright and Internet piracy "are still widespread."

The "black list" is headed by China and Venezuela, which is the only Latin American country, along with Argentina and Chile, in the ranking.

The 301 Report also highlighted some positive aspects, such as the approval of the Law against Crime and Smuggling in 2010, "which imposes sanctions and provides for the confiscation of assets," in cases of Intellectual Property Right (IPR) violations. Source: http://www.eluniversal.com