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Bill to overhaul U.S. IPR enforcement ready to go - December 4, 2007

House Judiciary Committee chairman Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) is set to introduce a bill for a massive overhaul of U.S. intellectual property rights enforcement sometime this week, Media Wonk hears, a committee spokeswoman confirms, perhaps as soon as today.

The bill would create a White House-level position to oversee and coordinate IPR enforcement, including heading an inter-agency task force among law enforcement, trade, customs and diplomatic departments. It's also expected to propose creating a new division within the Department of Justice devoted to IP enforcement.

In addition, the bill is expected to include mandatory staffing levels for IPR issues within DOJ and the appointment of dedicated IPR prosecutors.

On the international front, the bill will propose appointing IP attaches in a number of U.S. embassies located in countries where piracy and counterfeiting is extensive.

The bill, which Conyers' office as been working on for months, will apparently contain nearly all of the provisions hoped for by the Coalition Against Counterfeiting and Piracy, including the White House-level IP coordinator. CACP represents a broad cross section of U.S. industry sectors, from manufacturing, to media and technology companies and has been pressing for a radical realignment of U.S. law enforcement resources to emphasize enforcement of a broad array of intellectual property rights, including patents, trademarks and copyrights.

Some of CACP's goals, however, including stiffened enforcement of IP rights at U.S. borders will apparently be addressed in a separate bill to be introduced in the Ways and Means Committee, due to jurisdiction conflicts with the Judiciary Committee.



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