Poor record on intellectual property rights puts off foreign investors
Posted by meb at June 27th, 2008
The head of the International Investors Association (YASED) has stated that Turkey’s poor performance with respect to intellectual property rights (IPRs) and trademark protection is impacting foreign investment in the country.
YASED President Tahir Uysal told the Anatolia news agency there is social resistance to the issue of intellectual property rights and that Turkish lawmakers and law enforcement officials have a lack of awareness on this issue that is an extension of this resistance. “For instance, when you ask in a survey, ‘Do you want the people who sell counterfeited products to be punished?’ you get 60 percent ‘yes,’ but 40 percent of the people interviewed still say that such people should not be punished,” he noted.
Uysal maintained that Turkey is viewed negatively by international investors in this regard. “I talked to two such investors. One of them said he canceled the investment he planned to make in Turkey because IPRs are not properly protected in Turkey, while the other explained that he would not expand his investments in Turkey for the same reason. This happened within a year. One was involved in industrial production while the other was in IT, software and similar areas. Another related point is the unregistered economy. In these areas, we only see well-intentioned remarks, but until now the government had not taken the required steps. Another impact of the unregistered economy will be seen with respect to IPRs,” he told Anatolia.
Uysal also mentioned the 2008 Special 301 Report, which is published annually by the US Trade Representative (USTR), announced in May. He pointed out that in the report Turkey was moved from the Priority Watch List (PWL) to the Watch List (WL), which means a move from the worst position to the next-to-worst. He indicated that Turkey saw some progress due to the IPR law enacted by Parliament in 2004, but that the country’s inclusion on the WL implies there are many things that should be done as the list in question takes into consideration actual practices, not laws or regulations, in a country.
He stated that YASED had repeatedly said implementation fell short of expectations after the passage of the law in 2004, adding that one of the two chapters opened for negotiations in the country’s EU membership process relate to IPRs. “Therefore, Turkey should concentrate its efforts on this issue. Turkey’s current status in this area is unacceptable. Turkey opened this chapter. Negotiations are not restricted to passing of laws or regulations. They want more: implementation. But we may face difficulties in convincing the parties concerned,” he told Anatolia.
Uysal pointed out that a bill on patents that has led to heated debates and is currently on the parliamentary agenda is an important step with respect to IPRs. “The debates surrounding the patents bill show that this issue still has not been internalized or adopted in Turkey. There are still questions in people’s minds. We observe efforts to weaken the enforcement power of some articles of this bill. This does not raise our hopes. I hope the bill will be enacted without much change. I do not think Turkey can close this chapter without passing this law,” he said.
The IPR issue was discussed in a meeting of the Investment Consultation Council held on June 18, he said, adding that the closing statement of the meeting stressed the need to “further strengthen the implementation of the legislation on IPRs in line with international standards.”
source: Today’s Zaman
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