USTR Launches Section 301 Investigation on IP Violations in Vietnam
U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer announced the initiation of a Section 301 investigation on Vietnam's "persistent failure to resolve long-standing concerns about intellectual property (IP) protection and enforcement."
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This is the third concurrent 301 investigation on Vietnam; it is also suspected of distorting overcapacity and failing to stop the import of goods made with forced labor.
“While Vietnam has recently taken some steps toward addressing IP concerns that the United States has chronicled over many years in USTR’s Annual Special 301 Report, IP infringement in Vietnam continues to impair the competitive position of U.S. innovators and creators,” Greer said in a press release published the evening on May 29. He said enforcement needs to be sustained, and needs to deter IP infringements.
On June 1, the Vietnamese government posted that in three weeks of intellectual property enforcement, the government "detected and handled 1,438 cases of violations."
It said the value of infringing goods seized was about $1.36 million.
"These figures clearly reflect the initial effectiveness of the intensified implementation of Directive 38," the site said, referring to an order issued by the Vietnamese prime minister in May related to IP enforcement. It said that the pace of administrative enforcement actions in those three weeks was about three times the usual monthly tally.