Wednesday, April 27, 2016

U.S. Keeps China, India on Intellectual Property Shame List


Reuters, 27/04 15:05 CET

By David Lawder

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Obama administration on Wednesday kept China, Russia and India on its annual list of countries with the worst records of preventing the theft of intellectual property and cited Switzerland for failing to curb online copyright infringements.

The annual list, released by the U.S. Trade Representative’s Office, carries no threat of sanctions, but aims to shame governments into cracking down on piracy and counterfeiting and updating their copyright laws.

“Intellectual property is a critical source of economic growth and high-quality jobs for the United States, and it is more important than ever to prevent foreign governments and competitors from ripping off United States innovators who are trying to support high-paying jobs by exporting their goods and services to consumers around the world,” U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman said in a statement.

The trade agency said that the value added of U.S.-held intellectual property was approximately $5 trillion in 2010, contributing 34 percent to U.S. gross domestic product that year and supporting 40 million jobs in IP-intensive industries. 

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Source: Euronews

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