On February 7, 2019, BSA | The Software Alliance submitted comments to the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) to inform the agency’s annual Special 301 review – highlighting countries that deny adequate and effective protection of intellectual property rights (IPR) and fair and equitable market access to US companies that rely on IPR.
BSA members are among the world’s most innovative companies – accounting for nearly 50 percent of US patents issued to the top 10 US patent grantees. BSA members develop cutting-edge enterprise software and technology solutions involving artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, cloud-based data analytics, the Internet of Things (IoT), and cybersecurity. In 2016, software contributed $1.14 trillion to the US economy and supported 10.5 million jobs — jobs that pay significantly higher than the national average for all occupations.
However, continued economic growth requires open and non-discriminatory market access to overseas markets and smart 21st Century technology and data policies. The ability of BSA member companies to continue to lead global advances in innovative technologies is under a rising threat from digital protectionism and isolationism, coercive technology transfer, and discrimination against foreign companies, products, and technologies. Innovative US companies, operating internationally, depend upon cross-border data transfers and global digital delivery models to realize a return on investments in R&D and to commercialize their IPR.
The annual Special 301 process provides a critical opportunity for BSA to commend those countries that provide for market access and IPR frameworks that ensure a level playing field for US software exports and services, while also recommending improvements in countries that have adopted discriminatory or digitally protectionist policies that harm not only the US software industry, but also the countries implementing such self-defeating policies. As noted in BSA’s 2019 Special 301 Submission, the 2018 Global Cloud Computing Scorecard, and the 2018 Global Software Survey, trading partners like Germany, Japan, Singapore, and the United Kingdom have done a good job providing for open market access and appropriate 21st century IPR frameworks, while trading partners like China, India, Indonesia, and Vietnam have been less successful in this regard.
BSA’s 2019 Special 301 submission recommends that Chile, China, India, Indonesia, and Vietnam be placed on the Special 301 Priority Watch List, while Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, South Korea, and Thailand be placed on the Watch List. We also highlight the European Union (EU) as a region of concern. BSA will also testify before the Special 301 Subcommittee on these issues on February 27, 2019.