Washington: Accusing India, China, Russia and six other nations of failing to protect American producers of pharmaceuticals, films, computer software and other copyrighted material from widespread piracy, the US has placed them on a "priority watch list".

The nine on the watch list will be "the subject of particularly intense engagement through bilateral discussion during the coming year," US Trade Representative Susan Schwab said Friday in a Congressionally mandated annual report.

Copyright piracy is "one of the central challenges facing the global economy," she said. "Pirates and counterfeiters don't just steal ideas, they steal jobs and too often they threaten our health and safety."

Besides India, China and Russia, the other seven countries targeted for extra scrutiny were Argentina, Chile, Israel, Pakistan, Thailand and Venezuela. This could eventually lead to economic sanctions - if the administration decides to pursue complaints before the World Trade Organization (WTO).

In addition, 36 countries were placed on the lower level "watch list", meriting bilateral attention to address Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) problems.

Schwab said the report provides a basis for constructive engagement with US trading partners in order to address these challenges, particularly in key countries such as China and Russia. The US also had "significant concerns" with the other seven, including India, where it "remains concerned about inadequate IPR protection and enforcement".

Piracy remains a serious problem in India, as does trademark counterfeiting, including of pharmaceuticals and distilled spirits, said the report. It urged New Delhi to improve its IPR regime by providing stronger protection for copyrights, trademarks, and patents as well as protection against unfair commercial use of undisclosed test and other data generated to obtain marketing approval for pharmaceutical products.

It also encourageD India to implement the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) Internet treaties by strengthening its copyright laws, and to improve its IPR enforcement system by enacting and implementing an effective optical disc licensing scheme to combat optical disc piracy.

India's criminal IPR enforcement regime remains weak, with improvements needed in the areas of police action against pirates and counterfeiters, expeditious judicial dispositions for copyright and trademark infringement with imposition of deterrent-level sentences for IPR infringers, and stronger border enforcement against counterfeit and pirated goods, it said.

Urging India to strengthen its IPR regime, the report said the US stands ready to work with India on these issues during the coming year through the Trade Policy Forum and other bilateral mechanisms.

The report acknowledged several countries made significant positive progress on IPR protection and enforcement in 2007. For example, India has approved initiating action for accession to the Madrid Protocol.