The United States’ annual review on the state of intellectual property protection and enforcement identified Bangladesh as one of the top three countries with extreme delays in processing trademark applications.
Delays in obtaining registrations present a significant obstacle to protecting IP rights on foreign markets, according to the "2024 Special 301 Report" released by the Office of the United States Trade Representative on Thursday.
The two other countries are Iraq and South Africa in which extreme delays have been identified in processing trademark applications.
The report identified a wide range of concerns, including challenges with border and criminal enforcement against counterfeits, high levels of online and broadcast piracy, inadequacies in trade secret protection and enforcement in China, Russia and elsewhere, troubling ‘indigenous innovation’ and forced or pressured technology transfer policies and other ongoing, systemic issues regarding IP protection and enforcement, as well as market access, in many trading partners around the world.
Citing a study of the OECD and European Union Intellectual Property Office released in June 2021, which identified Bangladesh as one of the top five source economies for counterfeit clothing globally, the US report mentioned that stakeholders had identified the issue as a concern this year as well.
The OECD and the EUIPO study titled "Global Trade in Fakes: A Worrying Threat" said that China, together with Hong Kong, continued to be the largest origin economy for counterfeit and pirated goods, accounting for more than 85% of global seizures of counterfeit goods from 2017 to 2019.
The US report said that combating such unfair trade policies could foster American innovation and creativity and increase economic security for American workers and families.
The USTR report called for adequate and effective enforcement against trademark counterfeiting, which could play a key role in reducing the potential safety risks due to counterfeit products.
The Special 301 Report is the result of an annual review of the state of intellectual property protection and enforcement in US’s trading partners around the world.
The annual report detailed the USTR’s findings in a review of more than 100 trading partners after significant research and enhanced engagement with stakeholders.
According to the report, the USTR placed seven countries on “priority watch list” indicating that serious problems existed in these countries with respect to IP protection, enforcement or market access for US persons relying on IP.
The countries are Argentina, Chile, China, India, Indonesia, Russia and Venezuela.