Legislative efforts to enhance international enforcement of US intellectual property interests

S.2809, the appropriations bill for the Departments of Commerce, Justice and State, includes several provisions relating to domestic efforts to enforce US intellectual property interests abroad.

The bill includes an appropriation of $20M for the National Intellectual Property Law Enforcement Coordination Council (NIPLECC), an interagency body charged with coordinating domestic and international intellectual property law enforcement. S.2809 gives NIPLECC its first-ever seperate appropriation. The bill creates the position of Coordinator for International Intellectual Property Law Enforcement, a presidential appointee that will serve as the head of NIPLECC. Of the $20M appropriation, the bill mandates that NIPLECC transfer $6M to other agencies for intellectual-property related purposes.

The bill also includes language that clarifies the mission and authority of NIPLECC, stating that NIPLECC shall:

(1) establish policies, objectives, and priorities concerning international intellectual property protection and intellectual property law enforcement;

(2) promulgate a strategy for protecting American intellectual property overseas; and

(3) coordinate and oversee implementation by agencies with responsibilities for intellectual property protection and intellectual property law enforcement of the policies, objectives, and priorities established under paragraph (1) and the fulfillment of the responsibilities assigned to such agencies in the strategy described in paragraph (2)

According to Senate Report 108-344, which accompanies S.2809, “[t]he establishment of NIPLECC as a force for intellectual property protection is an unprecedented and necessary step towards better coordination of this Nation’s efforts to protect its intellectual property.”

S.2809 also creates the position of Chief Negotiator for Intellectual Property Enforcement within the Office of the United States Trade Representative. Funding for this position is by way of transfer of $5M from the NIPLECC appropriation described above.