The Legal Study on the Relation between Special 301 and TRIPs

In 1988, dissatisfied with the international protection for intellectual property provided by multilateral efforts, the US Congress created section 182 of the Omnibus Trade Act of 1974,which commonly referred to as "Special 301". The United States considers that other countries may use it to monitor the compliance of TRIPs. Special 301 Act will be more effective with the introduction of internationally binding minimum standards of protection for intellectual property by TRIPs, which is criticized by other countries. According to this section, the United States may take retaliation measures even other countries do not violate TRIPs, and Special 301 is inconsistent with TRIPs in the scope of its remedies, thereby superseding WTO dispute settlement. the United States finds it hard to protect its interests through WTO dispute settlement when it is a plaintiff or a defendant in a TRIPs dispute, and has to take unilateral measures such as Special 301. Since the conciliatory attitude towards developing countries of TRIPs, the United States will be difficult to protect its interests through WTO system. Now, the strengthened dispute settlement procedures will undermine the potency of unilateral measures such as Special 301.