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Comments received by the U.S. Trade Representative for the 2012 Special 301 Report have been posted online at regulations.gov

This year, USTR received 41 comments from groups or individuals.  Of these, 28 came from businesses, trade organizations, or coalitions representing IP owners.  Five came from nonprofit organizations, six came from individuals or academics, and two came from organizations representing foreign businesses in countries on previous watch lists (Brazil and the Philippines). The deadline for foreign governments to submit comments is this Friday.

Comments from industry groups nominate countries for inclusion in USTR’s annual Special 301 Report, which blacklists countries that “deny adequate or effective protection of intellectual property or deny fair and equitable market access to U.S. persons who rely on intellectual property protection.” Each year, the International Intellectual Property Alliance (IIPA) and the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) submit the most detailed requests.  This year, IIPA recommended 33 countries for inclusion in the report (and recommended that eight others should be monitored).  PhRMA recommended 45 countries.

All of the countries negotiating the Trans Pacific Partnership except for Singapore were recommended for inclusion in the Special 301 Report by IIPA, PhRMA, or both.  IIPA recommended that USTR “actively monitor” and “heighten its bilateral engagement with” Singapore regarding online piracy.

Civil society submissions came from Public Knowledge, Consumers International, Knowledge Ecology International, Essential Inventions, and the Brazilian Network for the Integration of Peoples Working Group on Intellectual Property.  Comments from individuals and academics included a submission from Sean Flynn and I, and another from Brooks Tueting of the University of Wyoming College of Law Center for Internationatl Human Rights Law and Advocacy.