Special301

The USTR’s Special 301 Report has been issued every year beginning in 1989. The Executive Summary of the 2009 report says:

The “Special 301” Report is an annual review of the global state of intellectual property rights (IPR) protection and enforcement, conducted by the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) pursuant to Section 182 of the Trade Act of 1974, as amended by the Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act of 1988 and the Uruguay Round Agreements Act (enacted in 1994). This Report reflects the Administration’s resolve to encourage and maintain effective IPR protection and enforcement worldwide.

Past Reports
The following are copies of the USTR Special 301 Report for every year since it’s inception in 1989, as well as selected submissions by PhRMA and IIPA and commentary and submissions by others, followed by selected articles and reports about the Special 301 Report.

  • KEI has a Table of each country designations from 1989 to 2023, in View or download in XLSX format.
  • USTR has recently provided its own list of the previous Special 301 reports here.

Below are links to each year’s report, as well as selected stakeholder comments or commentary.

2023 Special 301

2022 Special 301

The 2022 USTR Special 301 report:
2022-Special-301-Report

2021 Special 301

2020 Special 301

The 2020 USTR Special 301 report:
2020_Special_301_Report

2019 Special 301

The 2019 USTR Special 301 report:
2019_Special_301_Report

2018 Special 301

The 2018 USTR Special 301 report:
2018-Special-301

2017 Special 301

.

2016 Special 301

2015 Special 301

The April 30, 2015 USTR Special 301 Report:
/wp-content/uploads/2015-Special-301-Report-FINAL.pdf

As of February 7, 2015, USTR received 40 comments in response to its request for written submissions about the Special 301 Review. The complete list can be found at regulations.gov. Here are some of the important ones.

Industry/trade associations

  • PhRMA, February 6, 2015 Submission.
  • International Intellectual Property Alliance, February 6, 2015 submission.
  • Intellectual Property Owners (IPO) Association, February 6, 2015 submission.
  • Biotechnology Industry Organization, February 6, 2015 submission.
  • Computer & Communications Industry Association, February 7, 2015 submission.

KEI and other public interest groups


2014 Special 301

/wp-content/uploads/USTR_2014_Special301.pdf

The USTR docket for the 2014 Special 301 list is here. The PhRMA and IIPA submissions are generally regarded as the most influential.

USTR Videos of February 24, 2014, Hearing on the Special 301 Report

Industry/trade associations

  • PhRMA’s 2014 Submission.
  • International Intellectual Property Alliance, February 7, 2014 submission.
  • Intellectual Property Owners (IPO) Association February 7, 2014 submission.

KEI’s comment and commentary

2013 Special 301

The 2013 Special 301 Report is available here.

2012 Special 301

The 2012 Special 301 report was published on April 30, and is available here.

KEI Commentary (following publication)

Other post publication commentary and reports

Pre-Publication Public Submissions

2011 Special 301

/wp-content/uploads/2011_Special_301_Report.pdf

KEI Post publication commentary

2010 Special 301

The 2010 Special 301 report was published on April 30, 2010 and it is available here. This year there were more than 700 submissions to the USTR.

KEI pre-publication submissions and commentary:

Selected Industry submissions:

Selected NGO submissions:

2009 Special 301

2008 Special 301

2007 Special 301

2006 Special 301

2005 Special 301

2004 Special 301

2003 Special 301

2002 Special 301

2001 Special 301

2000 Special 301

1999 Special 301

1998 Special 301

1997 Special 301

1996 Special 301

1995 Special 301

1994 Special 301

1993 Special 301

1992 Special 301

1991 Special 301

  • USTR’s 1991 Special 301 Report.
  • January 25, 1991. Roger A Brooks from PhRMA writes to International Subcommittee of the Patent Committee, US Department of Commerce, stating that PhRMA “is in the process of formulating a Section 301 petition against Thailand for lack of intellectual property protection.” He asks that the Subcommittee “evaluate the proposed changed in the current Thai Law” in view of the comments made by Pfizer, which he encloses.

1990 Special 301

1989 Special 301


Misc documents and studies