New Ip Law Creating Cabinet-level Ip Enforcement Coordinator Signals Enhanced Focus On Combating Counterfeit Goods

摘要

Three weeks before the November elections, President Bush signed into law the Prioritizing Resources and Organization for Intellectual Property Act of 2008 (PROIPA), Public Law 110-403. The new law aims to improve federal enforcement of intellectual property (IP) rights (IPR) by enhancing the priority and influence of IP enforcement and increasing penalties for violating US copyright and trademark rights. The new law appropriates $275 million over the next five years for enforcement programs and its implementation is expected to require a total of $429 million over the 2009-2013 period. Perhaps most notably, the new law requires President Obama to appoint to his cabinet an IP Czar, formally titled the Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator (IPEC), to advise the president and to coordinate federal programs and policy designed to combat IP piracy.