EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The Special 301 Report is the result of an annual review of the state of intellectual property rights (IPR) protection and enforcement in U.S. trading partners around world, which the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) conducts pursuant to Section 182 of the Trade Act of 1974, as amended by the Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act of 1988 and the Uruguay Round Agreements Act (19 U.S.C. § 2242).
This Report reflects the Administration's continued resolve to encourage and maintain adequate and effective IPR protection and enforcement worldwide. It identifies a wide range of concerns, including: (a) the deterioration in IPR protection, enforcement, and market access for persons relying on IPR in a number of trading partners; (b) reported inadequacies in trade secret protection in China, India, and elsewhere, as well as an increasing incidence of trade secret misappropriation; (c) troubling "indigenous innovation" policies that may unfairly disadvantage U.S. rights holders in China; (d) the continuing challenges of copyright piracy over the Internet in countries such as Brazil, China, India, and Russia; (e) market access barriers, including nontransparent, discriminatory or otherwise trade-restrictive measures, that appear to impede access to healthcare; and (f) other ongoing, systemic IPR enforcement issues in many trading partners around the world.
USTR looks forward to working closely with the governments of the trading partners that are identified in this year's Special 301 Report, to address both emerging and continuing concerns, and to continue to build on the positive results that many of these governments have achieved.
Public Engagement
USTR continued to enhance public engagement in this year's Special 301 process, to facilitate sound, well-balanced assessments of IPR protection and enforcement efforts of particular trading partners, and to help ensure that the Special 301 review is based on a full understanding of the various IPR issues in trading partner markets. USTR requested written submissions from the public through a notice published in the Federal Register on January 3, 2014. In addition, on February 24, USTR conducted a public hearing that provided the opportunity for interested persons to testify before the interagency Special 301 Subcommittee about issues relevant to the review. The hearing featured testimony from witnesses such as representatives of foreign governments, industry, and non-governmental organizations. For the first time, USTR recorded and posted on its website the testimony at the Special 301 hearing, and also offered a two-week post-hearing comment period during which hearing participants and interested parties could submit additional information in support of, or in response to, hearing testimony. The 2014 Federal Register notice – and post-hearing comment period – drew submissions from over 100 interested parties, including 21 trading partner governments. These submissions are available to the public online at www.regulations.gov, docket number USTR-2013-0040. The public can access both the video and transcript of the hearing at www.ustr.gov.
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