USTR raises worldwide drug IPR concerns

The Office of the US Trade Representative has added Algeria, Canada and Indonesia to its Priority Watch List, as part of the annual Special 301  Report on the protection of intellectual property rights by the USA's  trading partners. Ron Kirk, the recently-appointed Trade  Representative, said: "in this time of economic uncertainty, we need to  redouble our efforts to work with all our trading partners - even our  closest allies and neighbors such as Canada - to enhance protection and  enforcement of intellectual property rights in the context of a  rules-based trading system."

The biggest improvement reported by the USTR was in the case of South  Korea, which had figured in all 19 previous annual Reports. Due to the  Korean government's improvements over the previous 12 months and a  stated priority of improving IPR protection, the US agency removed the  Southeast Asian nation from the Watch List altogether. 12 countries  remain on the Priority Watch List, with 33 others on the Watch List and  one on the lower-level Section 306 monitoring status.

The Times of India reported on the USTR's view of the Indian  government's IPR score for pharmaceuticals, which suggested a patchy  record. The modernization of patent offices and the introduction of an  electronic-filing system for trade mark and patent applications were  welcomed by the US authority. In particular, the passage of the Drugs  and Cosmetics (Amendment) Act 2008, was "encouraging" the USTR said.