This week the United States Trade Representative (USTR) released the annual Special 301 Report. For those of you who are not aware of this report, it assesses the standard to which America’s international trading partners “uphold intellectual property rights protection and enforcement”. Of the ninety five countries assessed, forty one have then been put into the report itself. The report consists of  a series of watch lists, of countries that to a greater or lesser degree fail to meet the standards desired by the USTR.

How effective an indicator of intellectual property rights protection does this survey really offer? Continue reading →