Bulgaria Property

Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) ...

An overview of the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS Agreement) ...

World Intellectual Property Organization Copyright Treaty ... [Read More]

Bulgaria

The Constitution forbids privileges or restrictions of rights on the basis of sex, and women are not impeded from owning or managing businesses, land, or other real property and do not suffer from discrimination under inheritance laws; however, women face discrimination both in terms of job recruitment and the likelihood of layoffs. Official figures show the rate of unemployment for women to be higher than that for men. Women are much more likely than men to be employed in low-wage jobs requiring little education, and the National Statistical Institute reports that as of November, the average salary of a woman was 76.8 percent of the average salary of a man. Statistics show that women are equally likely to attend universities, but they have less opportunity to upgrade their qualifications and generally end up in lower-ranking and lower-paying positions than their male counterparts. Women generally continued to have primary responsibility for child rearing and housekeeping, even if they ... [Read More]

Bulgaria

Legal/Policy FrameworkThe Constitution provides for freedom of religion; however, the Government restricts this right in practice for some non-Orthodox religious groups. The Constitution designates Eastern Orthodox Christianity as the "traditional" religion. The Government provides financial support for the Eastern Orthodox Church, as well as for several other religious communities perceived as holding historic places in society, such as the Muslim, Roman Catholic, and Jewish faiths, which also are considered "traditional." These groups generally benefit from a relatively high degree of governmental and societal tolerance. A new law on religion, known as the Confessions Act, was approved by Parliament on December 22, 2002. It entered into force 1 week later, replacing an outdated religion law dating back to 1949. Religious and human rights ... [Read More]

Signatories to the 1970 UNESCO Convention

1 Amended listings of the signatories to the 1970 UNESCO Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property" are published by the United States in the Federal Register. The Cultural Property staff keeps an updated list of signers in the interim.  ... [Read More]

USIA, Economic Perspectives, May 1998 -- IPR

So in 1988 the Bush administration and the U.S. Congress decidedon a two-track approach to combating piracy and counterfeiting ofour products. One track involved creating the so-called Special301 program, through which we undertake an annual review of whichcountries deny adequate and effective protection of Americanintellectual property. The other track involved pursuing aninternational agreement on intellectual property that was bindingand had enforcement provisions as part of the Uruguay Round tradenegotiations in the GATT (General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade)that were beginning at that time. That was finally achieved when the Uruguay Round was concluded in 1994 with the TRIPSagreement (the WTO Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects ofIntellectual Property Rights). ... [Read More]

Bulgaria

The Muslim community, the Catholic Church, and some Protestant denominations claimed that a number of their properties confiscated under the Communist government were not returned. A central problem facing all claimants was the need to demonstrate that the organization seeking restitution was the same organization--or the legitimate successor of the organization--that owned the property prior to 1944. This was difficult because Communist hostility to religion led some groups to hide assets or ownership and because documents had been destroyed or lost over the years. ... [Read More]

Summary of Property Restitution in Central and Eastern Europe

Estonia Private property claims resolved. Communal property returned.The restitution of property in Estonia has been completed in an exemplary manner and there are no pending property claims or disputes. Estonia has returned communal property to religious communities. Private property owners who filed their claims before the appropriate deadline have also been able to reclaim their property, irrespective of present citizenship. Title to heirless property passes to the local municipal administration of the area in which the property is located. The administration is free to sell the property or retain it for its own use. ... [Read More]

Bulgaria

In July one member of the Zrunkov clan, Ivan Ivanov, attempted to set himself on fire in front of the President's office, but guards quickly extinguished the flames. Also in July, police arrested 16 Roma in Vidin after they reportedly plundered the houses and property of the departed Zrunkovs. Additionally in July, in the town of Chirpan, six Roma (including a 6-year-old child) were injured in fighting between rival clans. Most of the Zrunkovs were reported to have returned quietly to Vidin or to have emigrated by year's end. ... [Read More]

V. Country Narratives -- Countries A through G

The Peoples’ Republic of China is a source, transit, and destination country for men, women, and children trafficked for the purposes of forced labor and sexual exploitation. A significant number of Chinese women and children are trafficked internally for forced marriage and forced labor. Chinese women are at times lured abroad with false promises of legitimate employment and then trafficked for commercial sexual exploitation to destinations throughout Asia, the Middle East, Africa, Europe, and North America, while Chinese men have been trafficked for forced labor to Europe, South America, and the Middle East. A large number of Chinese men and women are smuggled abroad at enormous personal financial cost and, upon arrival in the destination country, are subjected to commercial sexual exploitation or other forms of exploitative labor to repay their debts. They often face exploitative conditions that meet t ... [Read More]

U.S.: China Has High Rate of Intellectual Property Infringement- U.S. Department Of State

"Strong intellectual property rights protections and enforcement at home and abroad are critical for the success of America's innovative economy and are top priorities for this Administration," said Acting U.S. Trade Representative Peter Allgeier. "We are committed to vigilantly enforcing U.S. intellectual property laws and procedures and to working with our trading partners around the world to effectively protect the ideas, brands and inventions of our businesses and entrepreneurs." ... [Read More]