As the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius nurtures a reputation for its textile manufacturing, tourism and financial services, authorities here are determined to shed the country's image as a haven for brand name piracy.
The most obvious signs of such piracy are the hundreds of shops across Mauritius that appear to be outlets of the US firm Ralph Lauren.
These stores sell good quality, locally produced, clothes at reasonable prices and are well patronised by tourists and Mauritians alike who buy millions of items every year and keep some 6,000 people employed.
But the production and sale of these clothes is not licensed by the US-based Polo Ralph Lauren Company, which has finally had its day in a Mauritian court.
After the supreme court ruled in favour of the firm in February, Mauritian authorities and company representatives hammered out a mutually acceptable solution, under which production of the offending clothing will be phased out over six to nine months.
"The problem is that the widespread abuse of intellectual property rights to sell illegitimate products in Mauritius (and export them) has become a significant part of the Mauritian economy," US deputy ambassador Bisa Williams told a meeting at the Mauritius section of the US Chamber of Commerce in Port Louis last week.
Last year Mauritius exported almost 200 million dollars worth of textiles to the US, about a quarter of the sector's total exports.
Williams warned that Mauritius might jeopardise its eligibility under a US law that gives certain African countries free access to the US market if it did not "adequately protect and enforce" intellectual property rights.
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