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 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 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.
“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 Office looks forward to implementing the joint strategic plan, it said in a Monday statement. “The Office agrees with the Administration that effective enforcement is critical to providing meaningful protection of intellectual property rights, including copyright.” The CO especially applauded the administration’s “call to support practices and policies to improve the Digital Millennium Copyright Act notice-and-takedown processes.”
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.”