Chamber Represents American Business at Global IP Summit

Donohue Calls on Governments to Harmonize IPR Laws

Beijing, China - Today, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce called on all governments to enact stronger intellectual property protections and crack down on counterfeiting, at a conference on Global Intellectual Property Protection and Innovation in Beijing, China. The Chamber participated with top officials and industry representatives from around the world to discuss ways to protect intellectual property rights and foster innovation.

"The increasing globalization of production and trade makes it vital that governments strengthen efforts to harmonize their laws and avoid divergent practices in enforcement and legal remedies when a violation of law is proven," according to the Chamber's post-conference statement. "It should be very clear after this forum that our governments need to cooperate in every aspect of IPR protection, including education, awareness raising, and enforcement. Doing so will not only protect and improve international trade but will encourage new creativity and innovation across all sectors of the global economy."

There's a growing international consensus on several principles and best practices for promoting innovation and guarding intellectual property rights, according to the Chamber. Principles include governments' ability to help stimulate innovation by supporting strong basic education, training a technology proficient workforce, funding basic scientific research and making that research available to industry, and providing incentives for companies to invest in research and development.

The two-day forum with top government officials and representatives of industry and academia from around the world consisted of intense discussions about how to encourage innovation and protect intellectual property rights. Representatives from the United States, China, Japan, Korea, the European Union, Hong Kong, Singapore, and India agreed that protecting and enforcing intellectual property rights fuels investment in research and development and ensures steady global economic growth. The Chamber will study the statements and findings of the participants in the forum closely, and explore the options for establishing education and research programs based on them.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is the world's largest business federation representing more than 3 million businesses and organizations of every size, sector, and region.

A copy of the Chamber's statement is available online.

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