India on US priority watch list for Intellectual Property rights: What it means and why it matters

The United States Trade Representative has placed India on its 2026 Priority Watch List for intellectual property (IP) rights, flagging continued concerns over protection and enforcement mechanisms.

The designation was announced in the annual Special 301 Report, which assesses how effectively US trading partners safeguard IP rights such as patents, copyrights and trademarks. India is among six countries on the list, alongside China, Russia, Chile, Indonesia and Venezuela.

The report said India remains “one of the most challenging major economies” in terms of IP protection, despite some progress in recent years.

The US highlighted several persistent issues in India’s IP ecosystem, including delays in patent approvals, stringent rules that can lead to rejections, and the risk of patent revocations.

It also pointed to weak enforcement, with continued piracy and counterfeiting, as well as limited coordination among enforcement agencies.

Additional concerns include high import duties on IP-intensive products, gaps in trade secret and test data protection, and delays in resolving trademark and copyright disputes.

Six countries, Chile, China, India, Indonesia, Russia and Venezuela, were placed on the Priority Watch List, indicating significant concerns requiring close monitoring and engagement.

The report identified Vietnam as a “Priority Foreign Country”, the most severe classification under US trade law, for the first time in over a decade.

This category is reserved for countries with the most serious IP-related issues and could lead to a formal investigation under Section 301 of the Trade Act.

In total, 19 countries, including Pakistan, Brazil and Türkiye, are on the Watch List for IP-related concerns. What is the Special 301 Report?

The Special 301 Report is an annual review mandated under the Trade Act of 1974 that evaluates how effectively countries protect IP rights such as patents, trademarks and copyrights.