USTR Releases Special 301 Report & Review of Notorious Markets

Written April 29, 2019

The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) on April 25, 2019, released its annual Special 301 Report on the adequacy and effectiveness of trading partners’ protection of intellectual property rights and the findings of its Notorious Markets List, which highlights online and physical markets that reportedly engage in and facilitate substantial copyright piracy and trademark counterfeiting.

Trading partners that currently present the most significant concerns regarding IP rights are placed on the Priority Watch List or Watch List. USTR identified 36 countries for these lists in the Special 301 Report, including: Canada, Mexico, and Pakistan on the Watch List; and China, India, and Russia on the Priority Watch List.