Washington, D.C. – Senior Vice President of the U.S. Chamber Global Innovation Policy Center Patrick Kilbride issued the following statement today in response to the release of the Special 301 Report by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR). The annual report reviews the global state of intellectual property (IP) rights protection and enforcement.
“Governments must choose: they can either support systems that allow individuals with a novel idea to have a fair shot at success or roll back intellectual property protections thus leading to less innovation, fewer choices, and less economic prosperity.
“Business and government have a responsibility to champion an intellectual property (IP) agenda that promotes innovation and creativity worldwide. While the global IP environment has improved over the last decade, the Special 301 Report shows that many nations still have far to go in providing and protecting intellectual property rights.
"As the Chamber’s International IP Index shows, intellectual property underpins the innovation ecosystem responsible for the research and investment that produce game-changing breakthroughs like the COVID-19 vaccines. Nations with strong IP rules were part of the solution as innovators raced to provide technological solutions during the pandemic, and those that have shunned IP rules were on the sidelines.”
To view the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s submission to this year’s Special 301 Report, click here.
