The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) released its annual Special 301 Report on the adequacy and effectiveness of U.S. trading partners’ protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights
This annual report details USTR’s findings of more than 100 trading partners after significant research and enhanced engagement with stakeholders.
The report highlights progress made by U.S. trading partners to resolve and address IPR issues of concern to the United States. Most significantly, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is removed from the Watch List this year due to the Ministry of Health and Prevention resolving concerns with IP protection of pharmaceutical products.
The report said that the UAE also made progress on longstanding IP enforcement concerns, particularly through increased efforts by Dubai Customs, publication of IP enforcement procedures by multiple enforcement authorities, publication of annual IP enforcement statistics by Federal Customs, and efforts by the Ajman Department of Economic Development to significantly reduce the availability in counterfeit goods at the Ajman China Mall, a notorious market for the past several years.
USTR reviewed more than one hundred trading partners for this year’s Special 301 Report, and placed thirty-two of them on the Priority Watch List or Watch List.
In this year’s Report, trading partners on the Priority Watch List present the most significant concerns this year regarding insufficient IP protection or enforcement or actions that otherwise limited market access for persons relying on intellectual property protection. Nine countries — Argentina, Chile, China, India, Indonesia, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Ukraine, and Venezuela — are on the Priority Watch List. These countries will be the subject of particularly intense bilateral engagement during the coming year.
Twenty-three trading partners are on the Watch List, and merit bilateral attention to address underlying IP problems: Algeria, Barbados, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, Guatemala, Kuwait, Lebanon, Mexico, Pakistan, Paraguay, Peru, Romania, Thailand, Trinidad & Tobago, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam.
