The general thrust of the Trump Administration’s approach to
intellectual property is stated by a President Trump quote:
“We will safeguard the copyrights, patents, trademarks, trade
secrets, and other intellectual property that is so vital to our security and
to our prosperity. We will uphold our values, we will defend our workers, and
we will protect the innovations, creations, and inventions that power our
magnificent country.”
The Report outlines the Administration’s four-part strategic
approach, which includes:
• engagement with our trading partners; • effective use of
all our legal authorities, including our trade tools; • expanded law enforcement
action and cooperation, and • engagement and partnership with the private
sector and other stakeholders.
Under the first strategic approach, the Report outlines
various initiatives and activities across different agencies to engage and
educate trading partners, including the USPTO’s Global Intellectual Property
Academy. Under the second strategic
approach, the Report notes that the Trump Administration will strengthen the
Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States as well as utilize the WTO
Dispute Settlement process. On the third
strategic approach, the Report notes:
At the end of FY 2017,
the FBI had 228 pending IPR investigations. The largest number of
investigations deal with the theft of trade secrets (79), copyright
infringement (79),31 and trademark infringement (64).32 During FY 2017, the FBI
initiated 44 new investigations, made 31 arrests, got 23 convictions, and had
seizures totaling $750,205, forfeitures totaling $86,949, restitution totaling
$53,396,003, and FIRE (Frozen, Indicted, Restrained, Encumbered) totaling
$750,000.
In FY 2017, the number of CBP and HSI IPR seizures increased
more than eight percent, to 34,143 (from 31,560 in FY 2016). The total
estimated Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price (MSRP) of the seized goods, had
they been genuine, was $1,206,382,219.
In FY 2017, ICE-HSI initiated 713 intellectual property
investigations and had 457 arrests, 288 indictments, and 240 convictions.
In FY 2017, the IPR Center vetted 27,856 investigative leads;
of these 16,030 were referred to law enforcement partners. Additionally, the
IPR center de-conflicted 4,750 investigative targets for partner agencies and
industry. While performing these de-conflictions, the IPR Center identified 321
situations where two or more entities were investigating the same target.
Finally, the IPR Center referred 959 leads to private industry for follow-up. . . .
U.S. law enforcement and Federal agencies participated in
Operation Pangea X, which was conducted from August 19, 2017 to September 19,
2017, with the participation of 123 countries, and culminated with a week of
action, where participating countries and agencies conducted and/or reported
the results of their respective operations. U.S. and Mexican authorities
typically participate in Pangea independent of each other. However, in FY 2017,
ICE-HSI, CBP, and Mexico collaborated during the U.S. operational phase of this
operation. On September 25, 2017, INTERPOL issued a press release highlighting
the results of Operation Pangea X, which resulted in 3,584 websites taken
off-line, 400 arrests worldwide, and the seizure of 470,000 packages with an
estimated value of $51 million in potentially dangerous medicine.
The IPR Center’s Operation Apothecary addresses, analyzes,
and attacks potential vulnerabilities in the entry process that might allow for
the Internet-facilitated smuggling of commercial quantities of counterfeit,
unapproved, and/or adulterated drugs through international mail facilities,
express courier hubs, and land borders. During FY 2017, Operation Apothecary
resulted in 59 new cases, 38 arrests, 37 indictments, and 41 convictions, as
well as 567 seizure incidents of counterfeit items.
On standard setting, the Report notes:
Standards Setting: Many of America’s economic competitors
engage strategically in standards setting organizations (SSOs), often to the
detriment of American innovators. As the Administration and American industry
engage with SSOs, it will be important to ensure that SSOs are being used
fairly to promote the adoption of new technologies, rather than impeding the
ability for American innovators to continue creating and inventing. And as SSOs promote the adoption of new
technologies, such technologies should be available to industry under fair,
reasonable and non-discriminatory terms.
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