USTR Requests Comment on Countries that Deny Adequate IPR

January 2, 2014 by Brian Dabbs|USTR

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative is seeking comments on foreign nations that deny “adequate and effective” intellectual property rights (IPR) protection and “fair and equitable” market access for U.S. companies and individuals that rely on IPR. USTR is requesting comment on whether particular trading partners should be identified as Priority Foreign Countries or placed on the Priority Watch List or Watch List. USTR outlined the following comment submission schedule:

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Feb. 7: Deadline for interested parties, except foreign governments, to submit written comments, notice of intent to testify at the Special 301 Public Hearing, and hearing statements.
Feb. 14: Deadline for foreign governments to submit written comments, notice of intent to testify at the Special 301 Public Hearing, and, although not mandatory, any prepared hearing statements.
Feb 24: Public Hearing - The Special 301 Subcommittee will hold a Public Hearing for interested parties, including representatives of foreign governments, at the offices of USTR, 1724 F Street, NW, Washington, DC 20508.
By Feb 19: USTR will confirm the date and location of the hearing and provide the schedule at http://www.ustr.gov.
March 7: Deadline for submitting post-hearing written comments. Interested parties may provide written comments after the hearing.
On or around April 30: USTR will publish the 2014 Special 301 Report within 30 days of the publication of the National Trade Estimate (NTE) Report.

The comments should provide reference to specific laws, regulations and other orders, along with reference to specific regions of the country in question. Comments must be submitted via http://www.regulations.gov, docket number USTR-2013-0040. USTR requests the public to specify ‘‘2014 Special 301 Review’’ in the ‘‘Type Comment’’ field on http://www.regulations.gov.

USTR contact: Susan Wilson, Director for Intellectual Property and Innovation at Special301@ustr.eop.gov.

(Federal Register 01/03/14)