USA for Innovation Ad Campaign Highlights Thailand's Theft of American Assets

Over 35,000 letters sent to President Bush and U.S. Policymakers

    WASHINGTON, April 25 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- USA for Innovation
 (http://www.usaforinnovation.org) today announced an advertising campaign
 to highlight Thailand's new military regime and its recent threats to seize
 patents owned by American companies. The advertisement, a full-page ad in
 the Wall Street Journal, highlights a recent movement by the new Thai
 military regime, which assumed power by coup last September, to steal
 American medical innovations.
     Additionally, supporters of USA for Innovation delivered over 35,000
 letters to President Bush, Administration officials and Congressional
 leadership urging the United States to "take retaliatory action in the form
 of trade or economic sanctions or the removal of military aid."
     Complete Text of the Advertisement
 
     "Slouching Towards Burma
     Thailand's Radical New Regime
 
     When military dictators take over by coup, the people lose. Right now,
     General Surayud Chulanont is steering Thailand the way of Burma.
 
     First, he lined military pockets with pay increases of $9 million and new
     military spending of $1.1 billion.
 
     Then the opposition started disappearing. Human Rights Watch last month
     released a report detailing 22 cases of targeted 'disappearances' by the
     Thai military in the southern provinces.
 
     Then the Ministry of Health threatened to kidnap American tourists. The
     military-appointed representative at the World Health Organization, Dr.
     Suwit Wibulpolprasert, proposed in January holding Western tourists
     hostage to bargain for flu vaccines.
 
     Then coup leaders hastily imposed draconian measures on foreign-owned
     companies -- like capital controls, restrictions on business advertising
     and surveillance of Americans working in Thailand.  And now they are
     stealing American assets for military benefit.
 
     The new military-appointed Minister of Health, Mongkol Na Songkhla, has
     begun to override the patents on American medical innovations to
     strengthen manufacturing for the military-controlled Government
     Pharmaceutical Organization.
 
     The U.S. Patent and Trademark website claims that such theft costs America
     $250 billion and 750,000 jobs per year.
 
     In a global economy American innovation is our comparative advantage.  A
     study by USA for Innovation estimates that U.S. intellectual property
     today is worth between $5 trillion and $5.5 trillion, equivalent to about
     45 percent of the U.S. GDP and greater than the GDP of any other nation in
     the world.
 
     We urge President Bush and the Congress to Protect America's Interest and
     the People of Thailand."
     About USA for Innovation
     USA For Innovation is a non-profit organization dedicated to the
 protection of intellectual property and continued innovation around the
 globe. USA For Innovation educates decision makers, the media and general
 public about threats to innovation. For additional information, please
 contact us at 866-646-8668 or maura@usaforinnovation.org.
 
 

SOURCE USA for Innovation