Trade Representative, Office of United States July 9, 2007 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

Section 182 of the Trade Act of 1974 (Trade Act) (19 U.S.C. 2242), requires the United States Trade Representative (USTR) to identify countries that deny adequate and effective protection of intellectual property rights or deny fair and equitable market access to U.S. persons who rely on intellectual property protection. (Section 182 is commonly referred to as the ``Special 301'' provisions of the Trade Act.) In addition, the USTR is required to determine which of these countries should be identified as Priority Foreign Countries. Acts, policies or practices that are the basis of a country's identification as a Priority Foreign Country are normally the subject of an investigation under the Section 301 provisions of the Trade Act. On April 27, 2007, USTR announced the results of the 2007 Special 301 Review and stated that an Out-of-Cycle Review of the Russian Federation (``Russia'') would be conducted this year. Pursuant to this Out-of-Cycle Review of Russia, USTR requests written submissions from the public concerning Russia's acts, policies, and practices regarding the adequacy and effectiveness of Russia's intellectual property protection and enforcement. In particular, USTR requests that comments address Russia's implementation of the United States-Russia Bilateral IPR Agreement of November 19, 2006 (available on USTR's Web site at https://www.ustr.gov).