Havana, Cuba.-Delegations from Cuba and the United States discussed here last week on issues of Intellectual Property, said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA).

A newsletter of the MFA indicates that on Thursday and Friday a US delegation led by Daiel Martí, coordinator of the Executive Office of the President Barack Obama met, among others, with officials of the Cuban Office of Industrial Property and the Copyright National Center.

At the meeting, the note adds, both sides exchanged views on the current regulations in the respective countries in this area and the legal framework of the two States for the protection of trademarks, patents and copyright.

After explaining the existing guarantees in the island for the protection of industrial property, which is expressed in the registration of more than 6,000 American brands, Cuban officials expressed their concern about the effect in this nation of some laws that harm the rights of Cuban companies.

Among them, says the paper, there is the genocidal, economic, financial and commercial blockade imposed on the Caribbean island for more than 50 years by the governments of that country, and the law known as Section 211, which affects the recognition of the rights of companies and Cuban entities, including emblematic brands such as Havana Club and Cohiba.

Also, they stressed that the reciprocal protection of trademarks and patents will be essential for the improvement of bilateral relations, especially in the economic sphere.

Besides, for the US counterpart also participated officials from the State Department, and from the U.S. Copyright Office and from the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

As for the hosts, there were representatives of the Faculty of Law of the University of Havana, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Foreign Investment and the international law firms CLAIM S.A. and LEX S.A, which expressed their willingness to continue the exchanges of views on the matter.