The Special 301 Report is issued annually by the USTR, detailing its conclusions after reviewing more than 100 trading partners. This year’s report placed 26 trading partners on the Priority Watch List or Watch List.

       A blog post written by Ryan Denson, GIPC’s International Intellectual Property Manager, noted that the 2024 Special 301 Report has significant omissions… raising concerns for U.S. industry. GIPC said the 2024 report fails to mention key deficiencies in several countries’ intellectual property systems that pose real challenges to the creative and innovative industries in the United States. For example, the report did not mention Colombia’s new compulsory licensing system, nor did the USTR’s position on flexibilities in the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) at the time.

        However, the GIPC said these issues had been addressed in the 2025 report and welcomed the changes. The latest report, released on April 29, added eight countries to the priority watch list, including Mexico, which has delayed the implementation of several provisions of the USMCA on combating trademark counterfeiting, copyright piracy and protecting intellectual property rights related to pharmaceuticals.

     The GIPC pointed out six areas for improvement, starting with a new position on TRIPS exemptions. The USTR said in the report that rather than improving access to COVID-19 vaccines, this five-year exemption could weaken intellectual property protection standards and further exacerbate the false narrative about the role of intellectual property in access to medicines, negatively impacting the development of new treatments and cures for the next pandemic.

     The report states that for countries that have been on the priority watch list for many years but have failed to address US concerns, the USTR will take appropriate action, including under Section 301 of the Trade Act or under the World Trade Organization or other trade agreement dispute settlement mechanisms.

     GIPC also mentioned that the report contains new language that emphasizes providing American innovators with full and fair access to their intellectual property and calls on foreign markets that fail to properly recognize the value of innovative drugs and medical devices.