Intellectual Property Rights

This fact sheet provides information on investigations by the U.S. Trade Representative under Section 301 of the 1974 Trade Act concerning foreign countries' protection of intellectual property rights. The three main forms of intellectual property protection in worldwide use are patents, copyrights, and trademarks. GAO discusses (1) the countries that the U.S. Trade Representatives has identified since 1989 as having inadequate intellectual property protection and (2) the number of Section 301 cases that were initiated by the U.S. Trade Representatives since the passage of the 1974 Trade Act, in response to U.S. industry petitions regarding foreign countries.

GAO found that: (1) USTR has identified five countries that have not made satisfactory progress in intellectual property protection; (2) India and Thailand have been on the priority list each year there have been priority country designations; (3) although no countries have been designated as priority foreign countries for 1994, USTR has warned Argentina, China, and India that their statuses will be reviewed in June 1994 and that they will be listed if they have not made satisfactory progress in intellectual property protection; (4) between 1989 and 1994, USTR placed 38 countries on its two watch lists; and (5) USTR has initiated four cases in response to U.S. industry petitions since the enactment of the Trade Act of 1974.