October 6, 2011

Posted by Dan Houton

After three years of negotiations, the United States and seven other countries signed the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) on Saturday, October 1, in Tokyo.  Joining the U.S. in signing the agreement were Australia, Canada, Japan, Republic of Korea, Morocco, New Zealand and Singapore.  The EU, Mexico and Switzerland were parties to the negotiations of the agreement and are expected to sign after completing required domestic procedures.   Together, these countries represent half of world trade and efforts will be made to expand ACTA membership to other key trading partners. 

This agreement represents significant progress in the worldwide effort to combat infringement of intellectual property rights (IPR).  The global proliferation of counterfeiting and piracy hurts innovators and legitimate businesses,  but ACTA allows for better collaboration among trading partners seeking to provide effective IPR enforcement through three key provisions: (1) enhanced international cooperation; (2) promotion of sound enforcement practices; and (3) a strengthened legal framework for IPR enforcement in the areas of criminal enforcement, enforcement at the border, civil and administrative actions, and distribution of copyrighted material on the Internet.

This is great news for MEMA members who must protect their trademarks and other intellectual property.  IPR violations cost the U.S. motor vehicle parts industry billions of dollars each year.  MEMA’s advocacy for protecting its member’s intellectual property is lead through its Brand Protection Committee (BPC).  The BPC is holding its next meeting on October 11 at the National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center in Arlington, Virginia.  This unique federal facility stands at the forefront of the U.S. government’s response to global intellectual property (IP) theft and the meeting will offer presentations from enforcement agencies such as the Federal Bureau of Investigations and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to educate MEMA members on how to work with enforcement agencies on counterfeit cases. 

On the legislative front, MEMA this week participated in an industry coalition lobby day to advocate for “Rogue Sites” legislation which seeks to cut off foreign websites, dedicated to counterfeiting and piracy, from American commerce.  The Protect IP Act was introduced in the Senate (S. 968) in July and has strong bipartisan support.  The bill is expected to be introduced in the House in the coming weeks.