[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 123 (Tuesday, June 26, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 38088-38090]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-15477]
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OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET
Development of the Joint Strategic Plan on Intellectual Property
Enforcement; Request of the U.S. Intellectual Property Enforcement
Coordinator for Public Comments
AGENCY: Office of the U.S. Intellectual Property Enforcement
Coordinator, Executive Office of the President.
ACTION: Request for written submissions from the public.
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SUMMARY: The Federal Government is starting the process of developing a
new Joint Strategic Plan on Intellectual Property Enforcement. By
committing to common goals, the U.S. Government will more effectively
and efficiently combat intellectual property infringement. In this
request for comments, the U.S. Government, through the Office of the
U.S. Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator (``IPEC''), invites
public input and participation in shaping the Administration's
intellectual property enforcement strategy.
The Office of the U.S. Intellectual Property Enforcement
Coordinator was established within the Executive Office of the
President pursuant to the Prioritizing Resources and Organization for
Intellectual Property Act of 2008, Public Law 110-403 (Oct. 13, 2008)
(the ``PRO IP Act''). Pursuant to the PRO IP Act, IPEC is charged with
developing the Administration's Joint Strategic Plan on Intellectual
Property Enforcement for submission to Congress every three years. In
carrying out this mandate, IPEC chairs an interagency intellectual
property enforcement advisory committee comprised of Federal
departmental and agency heads whose respective departments and agencies
are involved in intellectual property enforcement.
This request for comments and recommendations as IPEC develops a
new enforcement strategy is divided into three parts. In the first
section titled ``Strategy Recommendations,'' IPEC requests detailed
recommendations from the public regarding specific recommendations for
improving the U.S. Government's intellectual property enforcement
efforts. In the second section titled ``Threat Assessment,'' IPEC seeks
written submissions from the public regarding existing and emerging
threats to the protection of intellectual property rights and the
identification of threats to public health and safety and the U.S.
economy resulting from intellectual property infringement. In the third
section titled ``Optional Questions,'' IPEC seeks written submissions
from the public to assist IPEC and agencies in the development of
specific action items. Responses to this request for comments may be
directed to either, or both, of the two sections described above.
DATES: Submissions must be received on or before July 25, 2012, at 5
p.m.
ADDRESSES: All submissions should be electronically submitted to http://www.regulations.gov. If you are unable to provide submissions to
regulations.gov, you may contact the Office of the U.S. Intellectual
Property Enforcement Coordinator at [email protected]
using the subject line ``Development of the Joint Strategic Plan on
Intellectual Property Enforcement'' or (202) 395-1808 to arrange for an
alternate method of transmission. The regulations.gov Web site is a
Federal E-Government Web site that allows the public to find, review
and submit comments on documents that have published in the Federal
Register and that are open for comment. Submissions filed via the
regulations.gov Web site will be available to the public for review and
inspection. For this reason, please do not include in your comments
information of a confidential nature, such as sensitive personal
information or proprietary business information.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Office of the U.S. Intellectual
Property Enforcement Coordinator, at [email protected]
or (202) 395-1808.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Through the PRO IP Act, Congress established
the IPEC, to serve as the lead office within the Executive Office of
the President responsible for formulating and implementing a Joint
Strategic Plan to improve the effectiveness of the U.S. Government's
efforts to protect the rights of intellectual property owners and to
reduce the costs of and threats posed by intellectual property
infringement, in the U.S. and in other countries. IPEC seeks public
input, in the form of written comments, on the formulation of a Joint
Strategic Plan and on the U.S. Government's intellectual property
enforcement efforts.
I. Strategy Recommendations
IPEC requests written submissions from the public that provide
specific recommendations for significantly improving the U.S.
Government's intellectual property enforcement efforts. Important to
the development of an effective enforcement strategy, is ensuring that
any approaches that are considered to be particularly effective as
[[Page 38089]]
well as any concerns with the present approach to intellectual property
enforcement are understood by policymakers. Recommendations may
include, but need not be limited to: Legislation, regulation, guidance,
executive order, Presidential memoranda, or other executive action,
including, but not limited to, changes to agency policies, practices or
methods. Recommendations should include a detailed description that
addresses the following points: Issue, agencies necessary to address
the issue, and recommendation for addressing the issue identified. If a
submission includes multiple recommendations, IPEC requests that the
submission rank the recommendations in order of priority.
In addition to the foregoing general request, IPEC is seeking
information and/or recommendations in response to the questions set out
in section III below to assist IPEC in developing new enforcement
strategy action items that further the priorities identified in the
Joint Strategic Plan. The submission of responses to one or more of the
questions in section III is entirely optional.
II. Threat Assessment
Emerging and Future Threats
The issues, threats and challenges that pertain to ensuring
adequate and appropriate enforcement of intellectual property are
changing rapidly. Since the inaugural Joint Strategic Plan was released
in June 2010, new threats have emerged that warrant inclusion among the
priorities identified in the forthcoming Joint Strategic Plan.
Therefore, IPEC welcomes information pertaining to and, to the extent
practicable, recommendations for combating emerging or future threats
to American innovation and economic competitiveness posed by violations
of intellectual property rights over the next five to ten years.
Threats to Health and Safety and the U.S. Economy
IPEC seeks written submissions from the public identifying the
costs to the U.S. economy resulting from infringement of intellectual
property rights, both direct and indirect, including any impact on the
creation or maintenance of jobs. In addition, IPEC seeks written
submissions identifying threats to public health and safety posed by
intellectual property infringement, in the U.S. and internationally.
IPEC also welcomes submissions on the economic costs of enforcing
intellectual property rights.
Submissions directed at the economic costs resulting from
violations of intellectual property rights must clearly identify: (1)
The type of intellectual property protection at issue, e.g., trademark,
copyright, patent, trade secret or other (2) the methodology used in
calculating the estimated costs and any critical assumptions relied
upon, (3) identify the source of the data on which the cost estimates
are based, and (4) provide a copy of, or a citation to, each such
source of information.
Submissions directed at the economic costs resulting from
enforcement of intellectual property rights must clearly identify: (1)
The type of intellectual property protection at issue, e.g., trademark,
copyright, patent, trade secret or other (2) the methodology used in
calculating the estimated costs and any critical assumptions relied
upon, (3) identify the source of the data on which the cost estimates
are based, and (4) provide a copy of, or a citation to, each such
source of information.
Submissions directed at threats to public health or safety must:
(1) Include a detailed description of the threat, (2) identify the
source of the information demonstrating the existence of the threat,
and (3) provide a copy of, or a citation to, each such source of
information.
III. Optional Questions
1. How can international regulatory and law enforcement
collaboration and information sharing be enhanced to address cross-
border intellectual property infringement?
2. What legal or operational changes might be made, or
collaborative steps undertaken between federal agencies and the private
sector, to streamline or improve the efficacy of enforcement efforts
directed at protecting intellectual property rights?
3. What measures can be taken by the private sector to share
actionable information on entities engaging in or supporting
infringement of intellectual property rights?
a. To the extent necessary, what government safeguards and
conditions would be useful to facilitate sharing of such information?
4. What information developed from law enforcement and intelligence
community threat assessments would be beneficial to the private sector
in order to mitigate the risk of trade secret theft and economic
espionage?
5. What additional measures by the U.S. Government would most
significantly enhance efforts to combat trade secret theft and economic
espionage?
6. When goods are imported into the United States, U.S. Customs and
Border Protection (``CBP'') and other federal agencies charged with
enforcing intellectual property rights and ensuring the safety of
products entering the stream commerce, e.g., U.S. Food and Drug
Administration and the Consumer Product Safety Commission, engage in a
risk-based assessment of the level of risk that a shipment contains
violative goods., and decides whether to inspect the shipment based on
this risk determination. What steps can federal agencies and the
private sector take to improve the risk assessment process so that high
risk shipments may be quickly identified and segmented from lower risk
shipments?
7. What authentication tools and track and trace technologies would
significantly enhance federal efforts to identify suspect counterfeit
or pirated goods?
8. In a global economy that increasingly utilizes Internet based e-
commerce and mobile platforms for transactions, the number of shipments
sent through international mail and express carrier services has
dramatically grown in recent years. Accordingly, law enforcement
efforts directed at interdicting infringing goods shipped in the
express and international mail environments have resulted in
significant increases to seizure levels of infringing goods shipped
through these modes of transit. What steps could be undertaken by CBP,
its partner U.S. Government agencies, and the private sector to further
improve detection of express carrier and international mail shipments
containing infringing goods?
9. Are there ways in which CBP could improve its intellectual
property rights e-recordation system to enhance ease of use and make it
a more useful tool for intellectual property rights enforcement?
10. As laid out in IPEC's 2011 Annual Report on Intellectual
Property Enforcement, using our resources as efficiently as possible is
a priority. Are there additional ways in which the U.S. Government
could make more efficient use of its resources in protecting
intellectual property?
Background
The 2010 Joint Strategic Plan as well as information describing a
number of intellectual property enforcement initiatives led by the
Office of the U.S. Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator can be
found at http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/intellectualproperty.
[[Page 38090]]
As set forth by the PRO IP Act, the objectives of the Joint
Strategic Plan include:
Reducing the supply of infringing goods, domestically and
internationally;
Identifying weaknesses, duplication of efforts, waste, and
other unjustified impediments to effective enforcement actions;
Promoting information sharing between participating
agencies to the extent permissible by law;
Disrupting and eliminating infringement networks in the
U.S. and in other countries;
Strengthening the capacity of other countries to protect
and enforce intellectual property rights;
Reducing the number of countries that fail to enforce
intellectual property rights;
Assisting other countries to more effectively enforce
intellectual property rights;
Protecting intellectual property rights in other countries
by:
[cir] Working with other countries to reduce intellectual property
crimes in other countries;
[cir] Improving information sharing between law enforcement
agencies in the U.S. and in other countries; and
[cir] Establishing procedures for consulting with interested groups
within other countries;
Establishing programs to enhance the enforcement efforts
of foreign governments by providing training and technical assistance
designed to:
[cir] Enhance the efficiencies and minimize the duplication of U.S.
Government training and assistance efforts;
[cir] Prioritize deployment of U.S. Government resources to those
countries in which programs can be carried out most effectively and
will have the greatest impact on reducing the number of infringing
products in the relevant U.S. market, protecting the intellectual
property rights of U.S. rights holders, and protecting the interests of
U.S. persons otherwise harmed by infringements in other countries.
Victoria A. Espinel,
United States Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator, Executive
Office of the President.
[FR Doc. 2012-15477 Filed 6-25-12; 8:45 am]
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