On April 30 U.S. Trade Representative MICHAEL FROMAN released the 2015 Special 301 Report, an annual publication that lists trading partners with inadequate IP protection and enforcement policies. IPO submitted written comments and testified at the Special 301 hearing earlier this year during USTR’s information gathering process.
Trading partners can fall into one of three categories, but this year no countries are in the most onerous “priority foreign country” category. Thirteen countries, including India and China, are on the “priority watch list.” According to a press release, these countries will be subject to “particularly intense bilateral engagement during the coming year.” Another twenty-four countries are on the “watch list” and will receive bilateral attention to address IP problems. To encourage progress on IP issues, USTR will launch additional “out-of-cycle” reviews of Paraguay, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan as well as Honduras and Spain, which are not listed.
