H
Hanzo Kattori
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May 4, 2011
Singapore not blacklisted by US over IP rights protection
By Chua Hian Hou
A software piracy syndicate in Singapore after a raid on pirated software and CDs in this April 16, 2005 file picture. Singapore has not been blacklisted by the US government for not protecting intellectual property rights. -- ST PHOTO: JOYCE FANG
SINGAPORE has not been blacklisted by the US government for not protecting intellectual property (IP) rights.
This, despite increasingly aggressive lobbying by the American media industry to blackmark the Republic.
Singapore was not cited among the countries deemed to have poor records of upholding copyrights, trademarks and patents, in an annual watchlist called the Special 301 Report.
It was published on Sunday by the US Trade Representative (USTR) which oversees America's trade agreements with its trading partners. A country on the watchlist could face increased import tariffs, for example.
Some countries the USTR said had fallen short include China and Russia, both of which are on its 'priority' watchlist of 12 particularly conspicuous offenders.
A further 20 countries - including Malaysia and Vietnam - are on the watchlist, compiled following 'deliberation among all relevant agencies within the US government, informed by extensive consultation with affected stakeholders, foreign governments, the US Congress, and other interested parties', the USTR said in its 54-page report. Singapore is one of 68 markets not on either list.
It was mentioned only once, in passing, for its 'cooperative' role alongside several other countries in the formulation of the international Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement.
The last time the Republic was on the USTR's piracy watchlist - which is in its 23rd year running - was a six-year stretch between 1995 and 2000.
