Chile remains on USTR Priority Watch list

The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) released its annual Special 301 Report on the adequacy and effectiveness of US trading partners’ protection of intellectual property rights (IPR). Despite its efforts Chile remains on the Priority Watch List for fifth year. Argentina and Venezuela are included too.

The report says: “The United States welcomes the Pinera Administration's significant commitment to address outstanding IPR issues under the United States-Chile Free Trade Agreement (FTA) in 2011. Positive steps taken in 2010 include the launch of a Ministerial-level interagency committee on IPR with a mandate to examine these issues, and the implementation of the new copyright legislation. In addition, Chile ratified the Convention Relating to the Distribution of Program-Carrying Signals Transmitted by Satellites (Brussels Convention) and the Trademark Law Treaty. The United States encourages Chile to take further action by acceding to, and ratifying, the International Convention for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants.”

The USA also encourages Chile to implement its commitment to provide an effective system to address patent issues expeditiously in connection with applications to market pharmaceutical products, to implement protections against the circumvention of technological protection measures, to implement protection for encrypted program-carrying satellite signals, and to ensure that administrative and judicial procedures and deterrent remedies are made available to rights holders.