Intellectual Property

Argentina adheres to most treaties and international agreements on intellectual property and belongs to the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and the World Trade Organization (WTO). In January 1995, the Argentine Congress ratified the Uruguay Round agreements, including the provisions on intellectual property. Under Argentine law, the piracy of computer software, entertainment software (movies and motion pictures), and books, to name a few, is prohibited. However, vague and uneven regulatory policies have made the entry of materials and the copy of these products rampant throughout the nation. Although there is room for greater improvements, Intellectual property protection for books, films, music, and software in Argentina has improved in recent years

Piracy

The piracy of video, cable television, computer software, and recorded music in Argentina is highly problematic. Strong efforts to combat this problem have been initiated, which include arrests and seizure of pirated material. U.S. industry estimates that losses due to copyright piracy in Argentina exceed $275 million annually (1). Although trademarks are protected by law and generally are respected in Argentina, some U.S. companies have been adversely affected by the inability to seek criminal prosecution and monetary damages in counterfeit cases related to trademark enforcement.

In 1998, Argentine Congress approved legislation making criminal sanctions available in cases involving the piracy of software. Argentine authorities have undertaken efforts to combat piracy of videotapes and other copyrighted material, but enforcement is sporadic and pirated products are readily available in the market. The government has improved the process for trademark registration (2).

Again, the government has enacted laws against pirating materials, however, these laws should be improved and enforced. The recording industry continues to face these problems:

· Lack of a government commitment on a nation-wide basis to fight piracy

· Lack of a government anti-piracy program

· The notion that piracy is an industry, not a government, problem

· The notion that the only enforcement agency is the police

· Lack of active participation by Customs

· Low levels of participation by the tax authorities

· Lack of government control at the Argentine borders and ports

· The Government’s failure to coordinate with its neighbors to improve border measures

· Lack of investigation and supervision over retail stores, importers and CD manufacturers to ensure they are involved in legal activities

· The delays in the courts before judges accept recording industry cases (3)

The local recording industry anti-piracy organization, APDIF Argentina, had lead a concerted campaign for the past nine years. Through its efforts, the levels of piracy have been kept at relatively controllable levels. The Federal Police continue to focus primarily on street vendors. The one location which remains untouchable to anti-piracy actions is the Mercado de Avastos (a marketplace in Buenos Aires). Some enforcement progress has been made through cooperation with the DGI (the tax services) and a Congressional Committee (Comision de Ilicitos) (4).

	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000
Piracy Rate	80%	71%	65%	62%	62%	58%
Retail Revenue lost to Piracy (1000)	$115,814	$122,389	$105,194	$123,786	$192,001	$114,403

(Business Software Alliance Data-www.bsa.org)

ESTIMATED TRADE LOSSES DUE TO PIRACY (1995-97, Millions)

The following data obtain from: http://www.iipa.com/rbc/1998/rbc_argentina_301_98.html

INDUSTRY	1997		1996		1995
INDUSTRY	Loss	Level	Loss	Level	Loss	Level
Motion Pictures	30.0	43%	35.0	43%	49.0	50%
Sound Recordings & Musical Compositions	25.0	35%	20.0	30%	15.0	17%
Computer Programs: Business Applications¹	71.3	62%	107.9	73%	112.4	80%
Computer Programs: Entertainment Software	83.4	90%	86.0	86%	64.7	84%
Books	7.0	NA	7.0	NA	7.0	NA
TOTALS	216.7		255.9		248.1

Piracy of Entertainment Software in Argentina

The piracy of entertainment software is a very serious problem in Argentina. The population prefers to purchase copied versions of software for the simple reason that it is more cost effective for them. As a result, CD-Roms are imported into the country so that copied versions of software can be generated and sold to the population at a discounted price. The government has attempted to stop the importation of illegal CD-Roms, but efforts have proved unsuccessful. Numerous shops continue to copy or burn CD’s to provide customers with the copied versions of the fake imported versions. Further, the manufacturing and sale of pirated video games and cartridges at the retail level has increased considerably over the past few years (5).

The highest form of motion picture piracy is in the copy of videotapes, in particular the hit movies that are released in the U.S. first, and later to arrive to Argentina. A trend has been observed that the majority pirated tapes come from low or middle income areas where video clubs do the copying on-site. Again, this has been observed throughout Argentina, however, this type of piracy is concentrated in the greater Buenos Aires area. Since 1992, the number of video clubs in Argentina has decreased from approximately 9,000 to 3,000, as a result of enforcement actions and economic factors (6).

Tariffs

Through government procurement and investments, the Government of Argentina eliminated most non-tariff barriers and specific duties, and made major progress in reducing traditional border barriers. Argentina became one of the most open economies in the world in the 1990’s when trade was opened to all potential exporters and importers. Although the government has made major improvements, customs requirements still remain rather vague and cumbersome inspections requirements increase the cost of trade (7).

Patents

Patent law is the weakest element in Argentina intellectual property rights. Argentina’s flawed patent regime could hinder Argentina’s ability to compete effectively with other Latin American countries that have strong patent protection. Adequate patent protection to pharmaceuticals has been a highly contentious bilateral issue. In 1996, the Argentine Executive issued a pharmaceutical patent that fell short of the Argentine Government’s bilateral commitments to the United States that protracted deep debate. The decree imposed a five-year transition period for pharmaceuticals, containing no pipeline protection, and granted the government broad discretion to issue compulsory licenses (8). As a result, the U.S. announced the suspension of 50 percent of Argentina’s benefits under the Generalized System of Preferences because of the unsatisfactory pharmaceutical patent law. The U.S. initiated consultations in May 2000 under the WTO dispute resolution mechanism to address trips inconsistencies in the law (9).