Bush administration to “name and shame” shippers of counterfeit goods
Bush administration to “name and shame” shippers of counterfeit goods
The Bush administration has stepped up its efforts to combat counterfeit goods.
“The message to the IPR (intellectual property rights) pirates and counterfeiters is simple — we will do everything we can to make their life miserable,” said U.S. trade representative Robert Zoellick at a briefing. “We will stop their products at our border; we will name and shame your company; we will ratchet up the penalties; and we will coordinate with our trading partners to prevent third-country trafficking.”
The departments of Commerce, Justice, and Homeland Security announced the Strategy Targeting Organized Piracy (STOP) initiative Monday.
STOP will focus on a variety of counterfeit products, ranging from CDs and DVDs to clothing and auto parts. Other aspects of the initiative include:
* Help small businesses secure and enforce their rights in overseas markets.
* Ensure consumer safety by securing the country’s borders and marketplace against fakes.
* Develop a “no trade in fakes” program in cooperation with industry to ensure that global supply chains are free of counterfeit goods.
* Working to take down criminal enterprises that steal intellectual property and updating U.S. intellectual property statutes to give them more bite.
* Working with other countries concerned about IPR piracy problems.
To provide border enforcement of U.S. copyrights for sound recordings, movies or similar audio-visual works, Customs and Border Protection proposed regulations to allow recordings to be held by the agency while copyright registration is pending. “This early recording will provide CBP with the information it needs to prevent importation of pirated copies into the United States,” the agency said.
Currently, CBP regulations require that all claims to copyright, both foreign and domestic, be registered with the U.S. Copyright Office in order to be eligible for border protection.
“However, significant imports of piratical copies of sound recordings, motion pictures, or similar audio-visual works can occur before the copyright owner is able to secure registration,” CBP said. “For these types of works, piracy is likely to occur prior to and immediately following the release of the work.”
Since 2000, CBP has doubled IPR seizures. In the first half of fiscal year 2004, IPR seizures at the U.S. borders totaled $64 million, the agency said.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce estimated that trade in counterfeit goods accounts for 6 to 9 percent of all world trade. The chamber pointed out in a recent report that intellectual property crimes drain up to $250 billion away from the U.S. economy. “It’s a big business and getting bigger,” said David Hirschmann, chamber senior vice president, in a statement.
Chamber officials praised the STOP initiative.
“Expanding cooperation with our trading partners to break the global supply chain of counterfeit and pirated goods is a significant step forward in combating these criminal activities,” said Daniel Christman, chamber senior vice president of international affairs. “We hope our trading partners will join us in strengthening enforcement in this area.”