The recently signed U.S.-China Economic and Trade Agreement identifies a number of intellectual property obligations undertaken by China. Among these obligations, Article 1.20.1 identifies specific actions regarding counterfeit and pirated goods arising from a customs seizure and Article 1.21 generally describes China’s obligation to increase resources dedicated to border enforcement, including greater efforts to combat …
Filtered by tag:
Tim Trainer
TRAINER: Ecommerce and Counterfeits: A Fluid Enforcement Environment
Amazon attracted headlines on Jan. 14 when Reuters reported that Amazon plans to share data about counterfeit goods with law enforcement. The report stated that Amazon, an ecommerce and technology company, may begin sharing merchant and company names, product and contact information after Amazon confirms the sale of fakes. Ecommerce in the U.S. is big …
Counterfeit Goods: Challenging Europe’s Customs Administrations
The European Commission (EC) released a report on September 19, detailing the intellectual property (IP) enforcement efforts of the European Union’s 28 member state customs administrations. The EC report of seized IP infringing goods at the European Union’s border points to China and Hong Kong as the country of origin for 60% of the seized …
Trainer: Fighting Counterfeits: Enforcement Isn’t Enough
Intellectual property rights (IPR) owners whose products or services have gained any level of success in the marketplace have likely experienced counterfeit/fake versions of their products or services. As a result, a legion of lawyers, private investigators and other representatives of owners have fanned out to all parts of the world to combat counterfeits. In …
Fighting Counterfeit and Pirated Goods Now A US Federal Law Enforcement Priority
The White House issued a memorandum on April 3, 2019, noting that the consuming public is being subjected to the dangers posed by counterfeit and pirated goods that are imported and placed in the stream of commerce. The memorandum focuses on the role of online third-party marketplaces and third-party intermediaries that facilitate the trade in …
Intellectual Property in Trade Agreements and Responsibility
The Trade Subcommittee of the House Ways and Means Committee held a hearing on March 26, 2019, on the topic of Trade and Labor. In his opening remarks, the Subcommittee chairman, Rep. Earl Blumenauer noted, “our serial failure to adequately enforce trade agreements.” Although intellectual property rights (IPR) was not the focal point of the …
Need to Fight Back: Trade in Counterfeit and Pirated Goods Grows
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) issued jointly their updated study “Trends in Trade in Counterfeit and Pirated Goods” on March 18. The 2019 study updates a similar study issued in 2016. Neither study examines the trade in counterfeit and pirated goods where the infringing …
US-Mexico-Canada Agreement: Raising Standards to Combat Counterfeit and Pirated Goods
The U.S. released the text of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) on October 1, a newly proposed trade agreement intended to replace NAFTA, that includes intellectual property provisions that strengthen enforcement. The international trade in goods that infringe trademarks and copyrights has been targeted for decades due to the growing threat infringing goods pose to public …
USTR’s 2018 Special 301 Report: Combating International Trade in Fakes
The U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) issued the 2018 “Special 301 Report” on April 27, which identified 36 countries whose intellectual property (IP) systems present the greatest challenges to U.S. interests and deserve a higher degree of bilateral engagement. The report further identified 19 countries that must take steps to improve their customs agencies’ IP enforcement …
Intellectual Property and the Escalating US-China “Trade War”
In August of 2017, the Trump Administration began the Section 301 investigation into China’s laws, policies, practices and actions that have had harmful effects on U.S. intellectual property. On March 22, the results of that investigation were released, and soon after, the administration indicated that the U.S. will impose tariffs amounting to tens of billions …
