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It’s That Time of Year – IACC Advocates for Brands in Special 301 Comments

February 11, 2021

IACC’s Special 301 Comments Highlight Challenges Faced by Rights-Holders in 35 Global Jurisdictions

By: Travis Johnson, IACC Vice President – Legislative Affairs, Senior Counsel

On January 28th, the IACC filed comments with the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, highlighting a broad range of challenges to the effective protection and enforcement of IP rights around the world.

The comments covered 35 countries, across 5 continents, and were informed by feedback received from IACC members’ global brand protection teams, who offered their front-line assessment of efforts to protect IPR, obstacles to effective enforcement, and recommendations for improving the current landscape.

Twelve countries were recommended for inclusion on USTR’s Priority Watch List, with another fifteen recommended for placement at the Watch List level. We also highlighted concerns in eight additional jurisdictions, without providing any formal recommendation.

Priority Watch List recommendations included: Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, India, Indonesia, Kuwait, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Ukraine.

Countries recommended for inclusion on USTR’s Watch List included: Bangladesh, Cambodia, Colombia, Ecuador, Egypt, Guatemala, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Nigeria, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Thailand, United Arab Emirates, and Vietnam.

The full text of our recommendations is available on the IACC website; USTR’s final report is expected by the end of April.

We would like to thank all of the IACC members who provided input for this year’s comments.

For additional policy updates, visit: https://www.iacc.org/news.

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