Tomorrow USTR will hold an open hearing as part of the 2012 Special 301 Review, in which it identifies countries that “deny adequate or effective intellectual property protection or deny fair and equitable market access to United States persons that…
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…
AUTHOR: Brook Baker. ABSTRACT: European Customs officials have used fictive patent rights to justify the seizure of lawful generic medicines produced in India and destined for non-European markets. Following a public outcry and initiation of two WTO complaints, the EU…
On December 28, USTR published a request comments in the Federal Register for the 2012 Special 301 Report, its annual report which identifies countries that “deny adequate and effective protection of intellectual property rights or deny fair and equitable market…
The markup of the Stop Online Piracy Act (H.R. 3261) has begun, and over 55 amendments have been proposed to the bill. Over the next two days, the House Judiciary Committee will debate each of them. There is an Amendments…
The office of the US Trade Representative has requested comments from interested parties on “Notorious Markets,” which include both physical markets and internet sites that distribute infringing content. This is the second year in which the USTR list of Notorious…
Inside U.S. Trade reports that the US government urged Chile “to strengthen the system by which patent owners can challenge the approval of allegedly infringing generic pharmaceuticals to be sold in that market, and its protection of test data used…
India’s Ministry of Commerce and Industry has announced an agreement with the EU to setting their dispute over the seizure of Indian generic drugs in transit. The EU has agreed to adopt guidelines for its customs officials preventing them from…
Australian Ambassador Kim Beasley has vowed that Australia will not change the Tobacco Plain Packaging Act, which prohibits cigarette packs from displaying brands and logos, despite accusations that the law violates international trademark law. According to Inside U.S. Trade, last…
A 2008 cable from the US Embassy in Helsinki to Washington describes the efforts of the U.S. Ambassador and his staff to prevent a change to the Finnish reference pricing scheme for medicines. At issue was a provision in Section…
On May 27, the International Anti-Piracy Caucus published its 2011 Country Watch List, identifying Canada, China, Russia, Spain and Ukraine as countries “that continue to lag in efforts to combat piracy.” The caucus was formed in 2003 and is currently…
On Monday Amy 2, USTR published the 2011 Special 301 Report, available here. After examining 77 countries, it included 12 on the Priority Watch List, 28 on the Watch list, and under “Section 306 monitoring.” Most of the countries in…