Page:Special 301 Report 2012.pdf/5

 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The "Special 301" Report is an annual review of the state of intellectual property rights (IPR) protection and enforcement in 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 (enacted in 1994).

This Report reflects the Administration's resolve to encourage and maintain adequate and effective IPR protection and enforcement worldwide. It identifies a wide range of concerns, including troubling "indigenous innovation" policies that may unfairly disadvantage U.S. rights holders in China, the continuing challenges of copyright piracy over the Internet in countries such as Canada, Italy, and Russia, and other ongoing, systemic IPR enforcement issues presented 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 its enhanced approach to public engagement activities in this year's Special 301 process. These activities are designed to help facilitate sound, well-balanced assessments of IPR protection and enforcement efforts of particular trading partners, and to help ensure that Special 301 decisions are based on a robust understanding of the complicated IPR issues that various trading partners may encounter.

USTR requested written submissions from the public through a notice published in the Federal Register on December 28, 2011. This year's notice yielded 42 comments from interested parties. USTR also received submissions from 18 trading partners. The submissions that USTR received were made available to the public online at www.regulations.gov, docket number USTR-2011-0021. In addition, on February 23, 2012, USTR conducted a public hearing that allowed interested persons to testify before the interagency Special 301 subcommittee about issues relevant to the review. The hearing featured testimony from 12 witnesses, including representatives of foreign governments, industry, and non-governmental organizations. A transcript of the hearing is available at www.ustr.gov.

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