White House Sets IP Enforcement Focus for Next 3 Years
Global intellectual property theft is a serious threat​ to U.S. interests, the White House reported Monday. The Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator (IPEC) sent Congress a joint strategic plan (here) setting IP rights enforcement as a national priority for three years. It "represents a ‘call for action’ for all nations -- as well as international organizations, industry, educational institutions, and consumer protection and public interest groups -- to provide forward-thinking leadership and a collaborative approach to combatting illicit IP-based activities,” Coordinator Daniel Marti wrote.
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The plan for FY 2017-19 sets goals including: (1) enhance national understanding of economic and social impacts from trade secrets misappropriation and IP rights infringement, (2) minimize counterfeiting and IP-infringing activity online, (3) secure and facilitate lawful trade, and (4) enhance domestic strategies and global collaboration. IPEC must submit a joint strategic plan to Congress every three years under the 2008 law establishing the coordinator. The plan was developed by a committee including representatives of many federal departments and with feedback from state and local governments, industry, public interest groups and others, IPEC said. The coordinator will continue developing performance metrics to evaluate the impact of federal initiatives on IP enforcement, and will monitor progress on the joint strategic plan through an annual report to Congress on IP enforcement, it said.
Notably, the report suggests a broader approach to cargo screening and a strategy to combat domestic finishing of unbranded imported counterfeit goods. The report says CBP's Container Security Initiative (CSI) and Importer Security Filing (ISF) bind CBP officers to a set of regulations and procedures that reflect a "single-threat" approach to IP enforcement, potentially reducing their ability to act upon additional illicit IPR intelligence identified during cargo screening. Because illicit shipments are subject to CSI and ISF arrangements, illicit contents might not be acted upon without being subject to more screening or CBP confiscation, the report says. On the other hand, introducing an "all-threats" approach to screening -- employing both an IP and national security focus -- could reduce screening redundancies, and empower CBP officers to act upon relevant intelligence gathered during a screening to further screen, exclude or seize cargo, as appropriate under the full body of U.S. law, the report says.
Little information is publicly available on illicit trade tactics of shipping counterfeit components to be assembled and/or finished in the U.S., but the federal government should evaluate the scope and nature of domestic criminal production and finishing operations, the report says. The report recommends that ICE identify and examine trends in domestic production and finishing operations within 18 months, and for ICE and CBP to work with other federal, state, and local law enforcement partners to combat operations related to domestic counterfeit finishing pursuant to ICE's findings.
The report also suggests that ICE and CBP within 18 months consult with the private sector on the prevalence and nature of, and responses to, importer identity theft, including tactics of bad actors to access identifications of known importers, current private-sector efforts to reduce importer identity theft, and options to change federal and private-sector processes to curtail importer identity theft. Known and trusted shippers that have earned import benefits such as expedited clearance are particularly vulnerable to identity theft, according to the report. Preliminary evidence indicates that identity theft tactics may be "widely used," including in conjunction with other obfuscation schemes, such as smuggling through foreign trade zones or armed conflict zones, the report says. "Enhanced international collaboration and information sharing would increase U.S. and other customs authorities’ ability to safeguard against crossborder illicit trade," the report says.
“The mission of the Federal Government in supporting creativity, innovation, and enterprise through the effective enforcement of intellectual property rights must be ambitious,” Marti said. “The threats posed by patent, trademark, and copyright infringement, and the misappropriation of trade secrets, are real and multidimensional. Our work must be carried forward with a sense of urgency in order to minimize these threats and the often overlooked attendant harms that flow from IP-based illicit activities.”
The Copyright Alliance applauded the release. It "outlines some of today’s most critical copyright enforcement issues and provides a framework for addressing these problems to help minimize infringement and develop a safer and more secure internet," CEO Keith Kupferschmid said. “We welcome the report’s approach to focus not only on the most egregious IP offenders, but also its highlighting of the need for stronger corporate leadership from legitimate online platforms and services to share in the responsibility of protecting America’s valuable intellectual property.”