NFTC to start IP rights forum

NFTC to start IP rights forum The National Foreign Trade Council on Friday started a major new initiative designed to protect and promote American jobs and ingenuity 'in today’s increasingly challenging economy.'
   The Global Innovation Forum will seek to create effective protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights (IPR) worldwide, the council said.

Reinsch

   “The NFTC represents more than 300 companies, many of which are global innovation leaders that rely on intellectual property protection and a predictable global trade system to employ tens of millions of workers,” NFTC President Bill Reinsch said in a statement. “There are few more cost effective ways to stimulate the economy than to ensure a predictable global IP system that protects jobs. The U.S. Department of Commerce estimates that intellectual property accounts for half of American exports and 40 percent of U.S. economic growth, so it is critical that we have the appropriate resources, rules and enforcement of those rules in place to support these workers.”
   The forum will initially focus on international policy issues related to fostering innovation and innovation job growth, intellectual property protection, technology transfer and efforts to address global challenges, NFTC said. A Web site will be launched this month and the council is planning to hold a series of meetings to connect innovative company representatives and workers, consumer groups, international development organizations and policymakers.
   “The global economic slowdown is creating new pressures on both innovators and consumers at a time when the world is confronting enormous challenges related to developing new energy solutions, improving public health, creating environmental sustainability, securing access to food and nutrition and raising global living standards,” said John Stubbs, executive director of the Global Innovation Forum. 'Our goal is to provide a forum to advance policies that support that creative effort and promote active ecosystems for innovation.” ' Eric Johnson