GAO Says Better Planning by U.S. Officials Abroad Could Improve IPR Protection

The Government Accountability Office has issued a report to Congressional requestors on intellectual property, which concludes that enhanced planning by U.S. government personnel overseas could strengthen efforts to improve IP protection and enforcement abroad.

GAO Describes IP Issues of China, India, Thailand & U.S. Efforts to Address Them

In its report, the GAO: (i) describes the key IP protection and enforcement issues at four U.S. government posts in China, India, and Thailand¹; (ii) assesses the extent to which the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) IP attachs and the Department of Justice IP Law Enforcement Coordinator (IPLEC) effectively collaborate with other agencies at the posts; and (iii) evaluates the extent to which each of the posts has undertaken interagency planning in collaborating on its IP-related activities.

GAO Found PTO's IP Attachs Generally Effective, DOJ Counterparts Focus on Too Many Other Issues

The GAO found that the PTO IP attachs were generally effective in collaborating with other agencies at the four posts, primarily by acting as IP focal points, while the DOJ IPLEC mostly just collaborated via IP forums, as they largely focused on non-IP issues.

(See GAO report for explanation of the types of activities carried out by these officials abroad, including negotiating new bilateral agreements, raising U.S. industry concerns with foreign governments, providing advise on strengthening IP regulation, etc.)

Interagency Plans Lacking, Guidance Too High Level, Info Not Shared

The GAO found that while the four posts have adopted several practices to collaborate effectively on IP, only one has adopted an interagency plan to address key IP issues. It also found that agencies at the posts are provided high-level guidance on IP issues but that guidance is generally either too high level to be applied to their day-to-day IP efforts or not shared widely among the agencies at the posts.

GAO Recommends More Interagency Planning, Setting Specific Objectives

The GAO recommends that the Secretary of State direct post leadership to work with the PTO IP attachs in countries with such attachs to: develop annual IP interagency post work plans with input from relevant agencies that set objectives and identify specific activities for addressing the key IP issues identified by the U.S. government.

The Department of State and PTO agreed with GAO's recommendation.

Weak IPR Enforcement/Laws, Lack of Resources, Etc. in Reviewed Countries

In all three countries reviewed by the GAO, the U.S. government has identified weak IP enforcement, weak IP laws and regulations, limited and inconsistent adjudication of suspected infringements, and inadequate penalties as key issues. For example:

China. China's high thresholds for criminal violations mean that most cases are handled using administrative enforcement actions that do not result in serious punishments. There is a lack of technical IP legal expertise as historically, Chinese judges were not required to have law degrees. There are also cultural issues, since some Chinese citizens believe that IP is simply a tool to help the rich at the expense of the poor.

India. The U.S. embassy in India told GAO that 23 states have created specialized IP units within their police forces, but only a few of these units are currently operational. It also said that many government prosecutors lack even a basic awareness of IP rights and that the courts are backlogged.

Thailand. The U.S. embassy in Thailand stated that Thai authorities have labeled parts of Bangkok and other cities as IP "red zones;" but there have been no sustained efforts since these designations to reduce pirated and counterfeit goods there. The embassy adds that it can be cost-prohibitive for IP rights holders to pursue legal action in Thailand as the Thai police typically rely on rights holders to perform the majority of investigative work, evidence collection, and to cover the cost of raids.

¹GAO states that China, India, and Thailand were chosen as they are considered havens for the production and sale of counterfeit and pirated goods and were all designated as Priority Watch List countries by the U.S. Trade Representative in its "Special 301" annual report. (See ITT's Online Archives or 05/01/09 news, 09050115, for BP summary.)

(See ITT's Online Archives or 03/03/09 news, 09030399 9, for BP summary of GAO's first report on IPR issues requested by Congress focusing on overseas U.S. government personnel involved in IPR protection.)

GAO report (GAO-09-863, dated September 2009) available at http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d09863.pdf