2011 Special 301 Report on Global State of Intellectual Property Rights 04/24/12

        During my research of the Free Trade Agreement between Korea and the United States, I have found the "Special 301" Report from the Office of the United States Trade Representative. The "Special 301" Report is an annual review of the global state of intellectual property rights protection and enforcement, which the Office of the United States Trade Representative conducts pursuant to the Trade Act of 1974 and the Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act of 1988.
        According to the Office of the United States Trade Representative, the report reflects the Administration's resolve to encourage and maintain effective Intellectual Property Rights protection and enforcement worldwide. It identifies a wide range of concerns, including troubling "indigenous innovation" policies that may unfairly disadvantage U.S. rights holders in China, the continuing challenges of copyright piracy over the Internet in countries such as Canada, Spain, Italy and Russia, and the ongoing, systemic Intellectual Property Rights enforcement issues presented in many trading partners around the world.
        The United States Trade Representative states that "fighting Intellectual Property Rights theft in overseas market is critical to the livelihoods of the estimated 18 million Americans who work in intellectual property-intensive industries." I hope I learn many information on current issues of intellectual property right and what the government has to say about the problem. More importantly, this report will surely help me on focusing the market value and piracy issue of intellectual properties.