Excerpt from 2005 USTR 301 Report

CHILE

Chile will remain on the Watch List in 2005. We note Chile’s efforts to bring its IPR regime into compliance with the TRIPS Agreement and the U.S.-Chile Free Trade Agreement (FTA). Chile’s Congress approved in December 2003 legislation intended to bring the country into compliance with a number of TRIPS commitments. Chile still needs significant reforms, however, in a number of areas. Copyright and trademark enforcement must be improved, including the imposition of deterrent penalties. Copyright piracy is still a serious problem in Chile, and the U.S. copyright industry indicates that digital piracy has contributed to a dramatic rise in piracy in Chile. Concerns remain over pending additional copyright legislation introduced in 2004 which, while making some improvements in enforcement mechanisms, appears to fall short of providing deterrent penalties. Regarding protection for pharmaceutical products, we are concerned that Chile has yet to implement effective regimes to protect test data against unfair commercial use, as well as provide coordination between its health authorities and patent office to prevent marketing registrations of patent-infringing products. We hope that these issues will be resolved through Chile's full implementation of the FTA and we will monitor Chile's progress in meeting its commitments.