At the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, it’s a...
At the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, it’s a priority “to try to crack down on problems of infringement taking place on the Internet” and “we're encouraging our trading partners to do likewise,” said Stan McCoy, assistant U.S. trade…
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representative for intellectual property and innovation. The U.S. can’t protect the IP of other countries, he said at the National Press Club during an America Abroad Media event: “We can’t be the world’s policeman. Only the countries of the world can be their own policemen, and every country has to create a rule of law for itself.” The U.S. can try to lead by example, he said. Developing countries are starting to see the value of intellectual property for their investments and businesses, said Naboth van den Broek, an international trade attorney at Wilmer Hale. Intellectual property has various roles for consumers and it “plays a really key role in encouraging innovation and the economy,” he said. Counterfeit enterprises and criminal organizations are empowered by technology, said Chris Israel, former U.S. coordinator for intellectual property enforcement at the Commerce Department. “We need to look at some ways and focus on how do we empower the consumer,” so they aren’t victimized, he said. International trade partners need a solid rule of law and a system of good IP rights “that are enforceable and meaningful.” But it will be hard to achieve “until we see governments … start to look at intellectual property as a core piece of their own economic development model,” he said. In carrying out the Special 301 review process for other countries, technology has created some challenges, McCoy said. There is a great challenge “associated with taking laws on the books and converting that into rule of law on the ground.” The Internet produces new challenges of digital piracy of copyrighted works and increases the capacity of those who engage in counterfeiting trademark-protected goods, he added. The PROTECT IP Act, introduced by Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., is a “very important piece of legislation,” Israel said. “Hopefully it will be a very powerful tool” for the U.S. government to really address global piracy and counterfeiting in a way “that can be a model for other countries to look at going forward in the future,” he said.