The United States named China and India on a watch list for countries that aren't doing enough to fight intellectual-property crimes, warning of trade-secret theft in China and the proliferation of generic drugs and counterfeiting in India.

The U.S. Trade Representative resisted lobbying by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and pharmaceutical industry to censure India with the "worst offender" tag in its annual scorecard on how well countries protect U.S. patents, copyrights and other intellectual property (IP) rights.

The United States instead kept India, which is in the midst of elections, on its Priority Watch List along with China and eight other countries. It would start a special review of India in the fall and "redouble" efforts to address concerns with the new government, the USTR said.

Some were disappointed that the USTR failed to name India as a "priority foreign country" - a label that can eventually lead to trade sanctions or the loss of trade benefits - although others stressed it was not off the hook yet.