Pakistan retained on US intellectual property rights 'priority watch list'

In USTR's annual "Special 301" report on intellectual property rights violators, China led 10 countries on the "priority watch list". PHOTO: CREATIVE COMMONS

WASHINGTON: The annual US government report on major intellectual property rights violators retained Pakistan on the “priority watch list” and said that the United States Trade Representative (USTR) was working with Pakistan to develop action plans to address the issues discussed in the report.

The “Special 301” report also placed Pakistan among nations that were highlighted for unauthorised use of software by the government. “Further work on this issue remains with certain trading partners, such as China, Costa Rica, India, Morocco, Pakistan, Paraguay, Saudi Arabia, Thailand, Ukraine, and Vietnam.”

“Although Pakistan has continued its efforts to advance IPR enforcement, including through raids, seizures, and arrests by various enforcement authorities,” the report said, “there have not been significant improvements in its overall IPR protection.”

The report noted that Pakistan had not yet fully implemented the Intellectual Property Organisation of Pakistan Act of 2012.

“Pakistan should also take the necessary steps to reform its copyright law to address the piracy challenges of the digital age,” the report added.

China

According to the report, China’s efforts to steal US trade secrets are of “significant concern” as it again listed the country as a major violator of intellectual property rights.

China led 10 countries on the US Trade Representative’s “priority watch list”, marking its 25th year on the list.

Despite some improvement in cooperation over combating counterfeit products and software and entertainment piracy, the USTR said, China is still the centre of huge losses for US rights holders.

IP rights holders still face “serious obstacles” in enforcing their rights in all forms inside China, the report said.

The most serious problem is trade secret thefts, which go on both inside and outside China.

“Conditions are likely to deteriorate as long as those committing such thefts, and those benefiting, continue to operate with relative impunity,” the USTR said.

The thieves can use the stolen secrets to boost their competitive advantage and even to enter into business relationships with the victims, it said.

“The United States strongly urges the Chinese government to take serious steps to put an end to these activities and to deter further activity by rigorously investigating and prosecuting trade secret thefts conducted by both cyber and conventional means,” the USTR said.

Other countries

Also perennially present on the priority watch list were Chile, India, Indonesia, Thailand and Turkey, mostly accused of turning blind eyes to widespread piracy of software, entertainment and branded goods.

The others on the list were Russia, Algeria, Pakistan and Argentina.

The USTR meanwhile praised Italy and the Philippines for enforcement progress that saw them removed from the broader “watch list” of 27 countries with high levels of violations of IP rights.