Embassy Events 2003
Remarks by Ambassador Christopher Hill To the International Conference on Intellectual Property Rights
30 October, 2003 |
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I
think it’s a very appropriate time to discuss this very important
subject – that is, the protection and enforcement of intellectual
property.
Many of you know that I was here in Poland in the
mid-80s. At that time, the 10th Anniversary Stadium was used on many
occasions for [the holiday commemorating the adoption of the] so-called
Manifest Lipcowy. More recently, it’s been used for different
occasions, but nonetheless, no more inspiring than those occasions back
then.
In short, something had to be done about the problems
that were happening in the 10th Anniversary Stadium. I’m very pleased
that there has been progress.
Intellectual property – I think
the first step is for people to understand that intellectual property
protection is important and that the theft of intellectual property is
just that – it’s theft.
Now, I speak as a father of two
teenage daughters. I don’t like paying $18 for their terrible music. On
the other hand, I think we all need to realize that when you steal
intellectual property, it’s a theft of creativity, and you ultimately
lead to the decline of creativity. And I think Poland is a country that
has over the decades, over the centuries produced a lot of creativity,
and therefore has a real interest in protecting that creativity.
I’m
always pleased to say that we’re really meeting at a time when there’s
been some progress, but certainly in recent years, there have been
problems. And for this reason, Poland was placed on the U.S. Special
301 Watch List last year. I was not very pleased to see that. On the
other hand, I think everyone understood that something had to be done.
Something, I think, is finally being done. The reforms at the 10th
Anniversary Stadium are certainly promising, but they’re not enough. I
think we clearly have to do more.
One of the most difficult
intellectual property rights issues is related to pharmaceutical
research. I think the pharmaceutical companies have a very special
problem, because they are producing drugs, pharmaceuticals that are
designed to help all of us that contribute to public health. And yet I
think some people feel that something that contributes to public health
should therefore be somehow a public good – when, in fact, it is very,
very difficult to produce a pharmaceutical, and for every successful
launching of a pharmaceutical, there are many that are unsuccessful.
Yet someone has to pay for those as well. So it’s not easy for these
companies. It’s not easy to spend so many hundreds of thousands and
millions of dollars and euros, in fact, to produce drugs, and then have
them copied by generic drug [companies] and to see that patented drugs
are then, in a sense, stolen and put out in a generic form.
So
we think it’s very important that the Polish government takes steps to
ensure a transparent business environment in Poland. I have no doubt
that in some years this process will be successful, because Poland has
a great interest. Poland has so much creativity, which is really at the
heart of Poland’s development – first, political creativity to bring
about some of the great changes in the world in the last twelve or
thirteen years. And already we’re seeing this commercial and economic
creativity. So the idea of protection of intellectual property should
really be at the heart of Poland’s economic future.
So I
welcome this conference. I don’t for a minute claim that this is an
easy subject, which has just one side or one point of view. There are
many points of view. And I think it’s a real opportunity for us all to
exchange those points of view. Thank you very much.
Rafał Skąpski, Undersecretary of State, Ministry of Culture; Amb. Christopher Hill; and Tomasz Bochenek, General Manager of Microsoft Poland |  More than a hundred people attended the International Conference on Intellectual Property Rights. |  The American Chamber of Commerce in Poland sponsored the conference. | |
