Pakistan has been retained on the “priority watch list” in the annual US government report on major intellectual property rights violators.
The report said that the United States Trade Representative (USTR) was working with Pakistan to develop action plans to address the issues discussed in the report.
According to the Express Tribune, the “Special 301” report also placed Pakistan among nations that were highlighted for unauthorized use of software by the government.
The report said that work on this issue remains with certain trading partners, such as China, Costa Rica, India, Morocco, Pakistan, Paraguay, Saudi Arabia, Thailand, Ukraine, and Vietnam.
The report added that despite Pakistan’s continued efforts to advance IPR enforcement, including through raids, seizures, and arrests by various enforcement authorities, it has not been able to have make significant improvements in its overall IPR protection.
The report noted that Pakistan had not yet fully implemented the Intellectual Property Organisation of Pakistan Act of 2012.
The others on the list were Russia, Algeria and Argentina.(ANI)