EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The "Special 301" Report is an annual review of the global state of intellectual property rights (IPR) protection and enforcement, conducted by the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) 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 (enacted in 1994).
This Report reflects the Administration's resolve to encourage and maintain effective IPR protection and enforcement worldwide. It identifies a wide range of serious concerns, ranging from troubling "indigenous innovation" policies that may unfairly disadvantage U.S. rights holders in China, to the continuing challenges of Internet piracy in countries such as Canada and Spain, to the ongoing systemic IPR enforcement challenges in many countries around the world. Positive accomplishments recognized in this year's Report include improved efforts by trading partners the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Poland, all of whom have been removed from the Watch List. Additionally, after successful Out-of-Cycle Reviews in 2009, Saudi Arabia was removed from the Watch List, and Israel has entered into an understanding with the United States whereby it will address key outstanding IPR issues.
In the year ahead, USTR looks forward to working with our trading partners to address emerging and continuing concerns, and building on the positive results achieved thus far.
Public Engagement
Consistent with the goals articulated in the President's 2010 Trade Policy Agenda, USTR has enhanced its public engagement activities in this year's Special 301 process. These activities are designed to ensure that Special 301 decisions are based on a robust understanding of complicated issues involving intellectual property and to help facilitate sound, well-balanced assessments of developments in particular countries.
USTR requested written submissions from the public through a notice published in the Federal Register on January 15, 2010. This year's review yielded 571 comments from interested parties, a significant increase from 2009. The submissions received by USTR were made available to the public online at www.regulations.gov, docket number USTR-2010-0003. Further, on March 3, 2010, USTR conducted a public hearing that permitted interested persons to testify before the interagency Special 301 subcommittee about issues relevant to the review. The hearing included testimony from 23 witnesses, ranging from foreign governments to industry representatives to non-governmental organizations. A transcript of the hearing is available at www.ustr.gov.
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