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The American group Defenders of Property Rights (DPR) today, March 16, announced that it has sent an open letter to U.S. Trade Representative Rob Portman urging the U.S. Government to block efforts by Brazil and India from undermining the World Trade Organization as their campaign against intellectual property rights continues.
DPR believes their actions against intellectual property rights undermine the strength of the American economy. Brazil and India's claims of biopiracy are intended to undue established agreements on intellectual property rights in the World Trade Organization and World Intellectual Property Organization. As you know, biopiracy is a term coined by countries engaged in rampant piracy to falsely accuse pharmaceutical companies of not paying their fair share for genetic natural resources. Of course, Brazil overlooks that pharmaceutical companies spend billions of dollars to transform a simple plant into a powerful medicine. Next week, their campaign will take center stage as Brazil hosts a meeting of the Convention on Biological Diversity, a U.N. funded body that will advance provisions aimed at undermining WIPO and WTO intellectual property law. "Brazil and India continue to run a global campaign against intellectual property rights," said Nancie Marzulla, president of Defenders of Property Rights. "The actions of Brazil and India threaten to destabilize international institutions like the World Trade Organization and damage the American economy." Defenders of Property Rights repeatedly urged U.S. Trade Representative Rob Portman to question Brazil about its poor record of protecting American intellectual property rights. Brazil stands as the number one abuser of IP rights in the Western Hemisphere costing American businesses an estimated US$ 900 million in losses in 2003 alone, according to the International Intellectual Property Alliance (IIPA). Undermining intellectual property law will have damaging consequences to the American economy. "Brazil and India no longer deserves to receive billions of dollars in American subsidies and trade tariff reductions each year if they continue to hurt America's economy in this way," said Marzulla. Defenders of Property Rights was founded in 1991 to counterbalance the governmental threat to private property as a result of a broad range of regulations. Defenders believes that society can achieve important social objectives such as protection of our environment and preservation of our national heritage without destroying private property rights or undermining free market principles. Defenders of Property Rights - www.yourpropertyrights.org
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