Protesters protest outside US embassy against US report
A group of activists protested outside the US embassy on Thursday here against a new report that ranked the kingdom among the world's worst offenders of intellectual property rights amid a patent row with Western drug firms.
The activists accused the US Trade Representative's office of grouping Thailand with copyright offenders such as China, Russia and India in retaliation for the government's decision to allow generic versions of Aids drugs and heart medication. "We want to express our dismay and outrage at the USTR decision in response to Thailand's decision to issue three compulsory licences," read the statement. Wearing black T-shirts with crossed-out pictures of US President George W. Bush, they unfurled a banner reading: "Evil USA: Stop threatening access to treatment in Thailand." Compulsory licences are allowed under World Trade Organisation rules so that countries can temporarily suspend patent protections on medicines to safeguard public health. Thailand has issued compulsory licences for Aids drugs and popular heart disease medicine Plavix. In an annual report released on Monday, the US trade office said it was concerned by "an overall deterioration in the protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights in Thailand."
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