International AntiCounterfeiting Coalition Urges US to Enforce Intellectual Property Laws

On February 12, 2004, the International AntiCounterfeiting Coalition, Inc. (IACC) recommended that U.S. Trade Representative Robert Zoellick place Canada and Mexico on the Special 301 Priority Watch List (PWL), along with Lebanon, Malaysia, Philippines, Poland and Russia as part of the annual ?Special 301" review of countries that deny adequate and effective protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights and market access. This short article discusses the IACC Recommendations, the applicable U.S. trade law, and analysis. The IACC reported on 27 countries. It recommended that Ukraine continue to be designated as a Priority Foreign Country and that the China and Paraguay remain under Section 306 monitoring. The IACC?s recommendations are based on a number of problems in the 27 countries, ranging from deficient domestic and border enforcement systems to inadequate judiciaries to dangers posed by organized crime involvement in the trade of counterfeit and pirated products...[more]