Experts believe that the Dominican Republic is exposing itself to sanctions from the World Trade Organization(WTO) for failure to protect intellectual property rights. They mention two major obstacles that stand in the way of compliance with copyright laws in the country: a frail legal system and the lack of personnel to enforce the law. The Dominican Republic is a signatory to the Paris Convention and the Universal Copyright Convention and, in 1991, the country also joined the World Intellectual Property Organization. In general, the applicable legislation is adequate, but the prevailing regulatory environment lends itself to widespread piracy.
On repeated occasions, the Germans have complained about frequent violations of copyright laws by the pharmaceutical industry. They also allege that no action has been taken by the judicial branch to redress this situation. It is estimated that in a local pharmaceutical market of about US$110 million per annum, Dominican manufacturers supply approximately 70 percent of the total. Of that, about 7 percent is thought to be plagiarized.
The list of illegally copied products include, but are not limited to, vehicle parts, clothing, pharmaceuticals, videos, computer software, books and fertilizers.