OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE
Washington, D.C.
FACT SHEET
"SPECIAL 301" ON INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
Carla A. Hills, the United States Trade Representative (USTR), announced today the Administration's plans to ensure further action by our trading partners to provide adequate and effective protection of intellectual property rights. Since May 1989, the USTR has implemented the so-called "Special 301" intellectual property provisions of the Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act of 1988. The Special 301 authority is designed to formulate an overall strategy on intellectual property and market access and enhance the Administration's ability to negotiate improvements in foreign intellectual property regimes through bilateral and/or multilateral initiatives.
The statute requires the USTR to identify those foreign countries which deny adequate and effective protection of intellectual property rights or fair and equitable market access for U.S. persons relying on intellectual property protection. If those trading partners are not making significant progress or entering into good faith negotiations, countries that represent the most egregious cases may be identified as "priority foreign countries."
Due to significant progress to date in current negotiations, the Administration has not identified any "priority foreign countries" under Special 301. It has, however, retained a Watch List and a Priority Watch List of trading partners deserving special attention.
After the last review in November 1989, there were 20 trading partners on the Watch List and four on the Priority Watch List. As a result of its 1990 review under Special 301, the Administration determines that no trading partner on these lists has taken sufficient action to merit a change in status, with the exception of Portugal, where positive steps to improve intellectual property rights warrant that it be removed from all lists.
Brazil, India, the People's Republic of China (PRC) and Thailand remain on the Priority Watch List. Although the PRC has taken some steps to improve its protection of intellectual property
