Citation[]
Prioritizing Resources and Organization for Intellectual Property Act of 2008 (PRO-IP Act), Pub. L. No. 110-403, §101, 122 Stat. 4256 (Oct. 13, 2008) (full-text).
Overview[]
In October 2008, Congress passed the Act (formerly called the "Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights Act") to improve the effectiveness of U.S. government efforts to protect intellectual property (IP) rights such as copyrights, patents, and trademarks.
In the Act, Congress established the Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator (IPEC) position to serve in the Executive Office of the President. Among other things, the IPEC brings a coordinated government-wide approach to IP enforcement.
In the Act, Congress noted that U.S. IP industries have created millions of highly skilled, high-paying U.S. jobs and continue to represent a major source of creativity, innovation, economic growth, and competitiveness.
Reporting requirements[]
Section 404(b) of the Act imposes a number of annual reporting requirements on the Attorney General, including actions the Justice Department has taken to implement Title IV of the Act and “a summary of the efforts, activities, and resources the Department has allocated in the five years prior to the date of enactment of the Act, as well as the one-year period following such date of enactment.”
The Act requires similar reporting by the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation ("FBI") on its intellectual property ("IP") enforcement efforts pursuant to Title IV of the Act both for the five years prior to enactment of the Act and the one-year period following enactment of the Act.
The Act directed the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to report on the nature and scope of IP statutory and case laws and the extent that they are being used to investigate and prosecute acts of trafficking and counterfeits.[1]
The Act also directed the GAO to provide information on the quantification of the impacts of counterfeit and pirated goods. The GAO (1) examined existing research on the effects of counterfeiting and piracy on consumers, industries, government, and the U.S. economy; and (2) identified insights gained from efforts to quantify the effects of counterfeiting and piracy on the U.S. economy.[2]
References[]
- ↑ GAO, Intellectual Property: Federal Enforcement Has Generally Increased, but Assessing Performance Could Strengthen Law Enforcement Efforts (GAO-08-157) (Mar. 11, 2008).
- ↑ GAO, Intellectual Property: Observations on Efforts to Quantify the Economic Effects of Counterfeit and Pirated Goods (GAO-10-423) (Apr. 12, 2010).