In its annual 'Special 301' review of the state of intellectual property rights (IPR) protection and enforcement in U.S. trading partners around the world, the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) kept Lebanon on the Watch List for the ineffective and inadequate protection of intellectual property rights and for severe copyright violations, along with 24 other countries and jurisdictions. The USTR placed Lebanon on the Watch List in 1999 and then downgraded it to the more critical Priority Watch List in 2001, where it remained until 2007. It then upgraded Lebanon to the Watch List in 2008, where it has remained since then. Lebanon, along with Egypt, Turkey and the UAE are the only countries from the Middle East & Africa region that are on the 2019 Watch List. Also, the USTR included 11 countries this year on its Priority Watch List, with Algeria, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia being the only countries from the Middle East & Africa that are included in the list. 

The USTR commended Lebanon's continued effort to promote intellectual property protection and enforcement in 2018, as well as the Lebanese Parliament's attempts to pass stalled intellectual property-related legislation. It also welcomed the Ministry of Economy & Trade's decision to start developing a national intellectual property strategy in coordination with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). However, the USTR noted that there are ongoing concerns regarding the progress on pending intellectual property legislative reforms, which include draft laws concerning trademarks and amendments to existing copyright and patent laws, inadequate protection against unfair commercial use, as well as unauthorized disclosure of data and information. Further, it indicated that IPR enforcement efforts in Lebanon have been improving slowly. However, it noted that enforcement officials require additional training in order to enhance their investigative skills. Also, it urged authorities to allocate sufficient resources for intellectual property protection and enforcement.