“Saudi Arabia has made significant progress in improving protection for intellectual property rights during the past year,” said Ambassador Ron Kirk. “Over the last several years, Saudi Arabia has stepped up its enforcement actions, strengthened its legal framework and demonstrated a commitment to fostering innovation and creativity. This is a credit to the hard work done by Saudi Arabia as well as to our close bilateral cooperation,” Kirk said.
Commerce and Industry Minister Abdullah Zainal Alireza expressed his satisfaction over the US decision. He said the Kingdom had held several meetings with US officials during the past years to get Saudi Arabia’s name removed from the list.
“The most important decision taken by the Kingdom in this respect is the royal directive to all government departments to adopt necessary measures for the protection of intellectual copyrights on the basis of Saudi laws and international regulations and commitments,” he said. Alireza said all government departments including the Ministry of Culture and Information had stepped up their efforts to ensure protection of copyrights.
The decision to remove Saudi Arabia from the Special 301 Watch List resulted from an “Out-of-Cycle Review” (OCR) announced last April in the 2009 Special 301 report. The review examined in detail the adequacy and effectiveness of IPR protection and enforcement in Saudi Arabia, with a focus on specific issues identified in the 2009 Special 301 Report.
The US will continue to carefully monitor Saudi Arabia’s progress in improving its IPR regime, including through the successful Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) between the United States and Saudi Arabia, a USTR statement said.
In recognition of progress Saudi Arabia had made toward improving IPR protection and enforcement, the United States announced last April in the annual Special 301 Report that it would conduct an OCR in 2009.
“Today’s decision to remove Saudi Arabia from the Watch List is the result of that OCR,” Kirk said.
