The US has asked Colombia’s government to take over management of intellectual property rights (IPR) after progress on the issues was “reversed” by the country’s Constitutional Court in 2013, a report by the US Government said.
The report by the United States Trade Representative (USTR) has Colombia on an international “watch list” of countries with insufficient copyright legislation and enforcement, urging Colombia’s government “to implement” protections that abide by the economic agreement between the two countries.
The establishment of intellectual property laws are part of Colombia’s commitments negotiated under the US-Colombia Free Trade Agreement (FTA). According to FTA regulations, Colombia must adhere to US and international law by protecting “copyrighted works like music, movies and software from privacy in the digital environment.”
In 2012, Colombia did adopt an internet copyright protection policy in accordance with its obligations to FTA regulations, but the law was then overturned in Jan 2013 by the Constitutional Court, reported Caracol Radio.
More: Internet copyright law ruled unconstitutional
The USTR report stated that “Colombia has not yet reestablished the provisions contained in the earlier invalidated law.” It furthermore expressed concern over the “patentability of certain pharmaceuticals, and challenges related to pharmaceutical and agrochemical data protection.”
The report acknowledged that in 2013, Colombia has made progress “in the areas of internal coordination of enforcement agencies, reducing patent application backlogs, and training judges and law enforcement officials on IPR issues,” but concluded that “greater enforcement attention is needed to disrupt organized distribution of illicit goods, including in the border areas.”
Colombia has been on the international watch-list of US trading partners since 2009.
Sources:
- EE.UU. pide a Colombia retomar gestion de ley sobre propiedad intelectual (Caracol Radio)
- U.S. – Colombia Trade Agreement (USTR)
- 2014 Special 301 Report (Office of the United States Trade Representatives)