[Ecommerce] US reveals intellectual property blacklist

[Michelle Childs]

Published in the Register.com

US reveals intellectual property blacklist
By OUT-LAW.COM
Published Wednesday 4th May 2005 10:48 GMT
The US has published a blacklist of those of its trading partners that are
most ineffective when it comes to protecting intellectual property rights
(IPRs). The "Special 301" report from the Office of the US Trade
Representative (USTR) fingers Ukraine as the worst offender.

The report, published annually by the Office of the USTR, identifies those
countries that deny adequate and effective protection for IPRs or deny
fair and equitable market access for those that rely on intellectual
property protection.

It places countries into a hierarchy of categories, with the ranking of
Priority Foreign Country reserved for the worst situations described by
the USTR as "countries that fail to enter into good faith negotiations or
make significant progress in bilateral or multilateral negotiations to
provide adequate and effective protection of IPR".

Such nations face the possible threat of trade sanctions. Currently, the
Ukraine is the only country in the category, and is subject to sanctions
valued at $75m.

The second highest ranking is the Priority Watch List, followed by the
Watch List. Countries are placed on these Lists when there are particular
problems in that country with respect to IPR protection, enforcement, or
market access for those relying on intellectual property.

This year's report puts 14 US trading partners on the Priority Watch List:
Argentina, Brazil, China, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Israel, Kuwait,
Lebanon, Pakistan, the Philippines, Russia, Turkey, and Venezuela.

Thirty-six trading partners have been placed on the Watch List, meriting
bilateral attention to address the underlying IPR problems: Azerbaijan,
Bahamas, Belarus, Belize, Bolivia, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, Colombia,
Costa Rica, Croatia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, European Union,
Guatemala, Hungary, Italy, Jamaica, Kazakhstan, Korea, Latvia, Lithuania,
Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, Poland, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Slovakia, Taiwan,
Tajikistan, Thailand, Turkmenistan, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam.

The report also announced the results of a special Out-of-Cycle Review of
China's intellectual property regime, concluding that infringement levels
remain unacceptably high throughout China, in spite of Beijing's efforts
to reduce them.

"This year, we are elevating China to the Priority Watch List for failure
to effectively protect intellectual property rights and to meet its
commitment to significantly reduce infringement levels, despite efforts by
China's senior leadership to do so," said Acting US Trade Representative
Peter Allgeier. "China must take action to address rampant piracy and
counterfeiting, including increasing the number of criminal IPR cases and
further opening its market to legitimate copyright and other goods."

Copyright =A9 2005, OUT-LAW.com

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--
Michelle Childs -Head of European Affairs
Consumer Project on Technology in London
24, Highbury Crescent, London, N5 1RX,UK.
Tel:+44(0)207 226 6663 ex 252.
Mob:+44(0)790 386 4642. Fax: +44(0)207 354 0607
http://www.cptech.org

Consumer Project on Technology in Washington, DC
PO Box 19367, Washington, DC 20036, USA
Tel.:  1.202.387.8030, fax: 1.202.234.5176

Consumer Project on Technology in Geneva
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Tel: +41 22 791 6727