China, Russia, five others make US property rights blacklist

By PAUL WISEMAN
AP Economics Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States is putting China, Russia and five other countries on its annual blacklist for lax enforcement of intellectual property rights that leaves American companies vulnerable to copyright and trademark piracy. All seven countries on this year’s list were on last year’s list, too. According to the report released Wednesday by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, “China continues to be the largest origin economy for counterfeit and pirated goods.’’ The U.S. suspended its review this year of Ukraine — which made last year’s blacklist — while it attempts to fight off an invasion from Russia.