Global Intellectual Property Center

Policy Accomplishments for 2007

• Building on its Anti-Counterfeiting and Piracy Initiative, the Chamber established a new Global Intellectual Property Center to: prove and aggressively communicate the value of intellectual property (IP); build an alliance of like-minded allies and champions around the world; mobilize these allies to renew government support for IP protection; and confront and defeat anti-IP activists whose actions are destroying patents and frustrating economic and human progress.

• Launched the Coalition Against Counterfeiting and Piracy (CACP) Campaign to Protect America to: (1) increase resources at the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Justice, (2) strengthen enforcement at the borders, (3) toughen penalties, (4) improve federal government coordination, (5) reform civil and judicial processes, and (6) educate consumers.

• Held events around the country, in partnership with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and key members of Congress, to educate small businesses on how to protect their brands and themselves from counterfeiting and piracy.
• Created and distributed more than a million copies of the No Trade in Fakes Supply Chain Tool Kit, which includes best practices guidelines and case studies of companies that devised and implemented aggressive techniques to fight counterfeiting and piracy.
• Expanded education efforts to consumers and students. Partnered with National Geographic on a film based on Dr. Moisés Naím's book Illicit, which links counterfeiting to other illicit activities. Sponsored a curriculum in Weekly Reader that reached 1.2 million middle school students, 36,000 teachers, and 12,000 schools in New York, Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., Miami, Houston, Detroit, and Seattle.
• Commissioned and released a national Gallup study on consumer behaviors and attitudes showing that more than 1 in 5 Americans purchased counterfeit products last year, with easy availability being the number one reason for purchase.

• Hosted the Los Angeles Counterfeiting and Piracy Awareness Week with seven educational and media events focused on how counterfeiting and piracy affect the city and the state of California.
• Developed a historic partnership with Interpol that resulted  in more full-time Interpol staff dedicated to IP theft and the creation of a global network for sharing IP intelligence between industry, government, and law enforcement for the purposes of tracking and arresting counterfeiters and pirates. Signed on more than 45 countries to contribute to the Interpol intelligence sharing database, which now receives real-time information from five different business sectors.

• China: Successfully convinced China to issue new rules lowering the threshold for the criminal manufacture or sale of counterfeit or pirated products and requiring the destruction of seized counterfeit products. Held the first-of-its-kind Global Forum on IP Protection and Innovation in Beijing to discuss the importance of IP protection and enforcement. Signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with IP authorities in Jiangsu Province to increase IP awareness and to promote more effective enforcement.
• Europe: Established an action-oriented framework for the U.S./EU working group, including new initiatives to fight transnational illegal border shipments; coordinated regional investigations using the shared intelligence of government and industry; and conducted joint public awareness campaigns.
• Russia:  Launched, in cooperation with the Russian Parliament, a regional IP effort on enforcement and education working with local legislators, the business community, consumers, and law enforcement. Held the first-ever forum for AmChams in the former Soviet Union to develop a comprehensive IP strategy and to coordinate efforts.
• India: Launched the "Bollywood-Hollywood Initiative," exposing the cost of entertainment piracy to the Indian economy. Partnered with The George Washington University School of Law and the Confederation of Indian Industry to train Indian judges and lawyers in IP law. Successfully advocated for rules empowering India's Customs authorities to seize counterfeit goods at the border.
• Western Hemisphere: In partnership with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and local American chambers of commerce, provided IP training to 80 judges, prosecutors, and other law enforcement officials in Central America. In Brazil, launched a Customs training program at 16 seaports, airports, and other border areas in partnership with the Sao Paulo Federation of Industries and the Brazilian government. Continued an educational campaign in Brazil targeting college students. Educational campaigns were also implemented in Argentina and Mexico. Conducted consumer counterfeiting and piracy studies in Argentina, Brazil, Guatemala, Mexico, and Paraguay.
• Southeast Asia: Developed a best practices manual that was included in the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Business Advisory Council's formal recommendations to national leaders during the September APEC meeting in Sydney.
• Africa: Co-hosted the intellectual property rights and anti-counterfeiting conference, IPR Tanzania 2007, in Dar es Salaam October 10-12.