The White House has unveiled the Administration’s first Joint Strategic Plan to combat intellectual property theft. The 65-page 2010 Joint Strategic Plan on Intellectual Property Enforcement strategy contains more than thirty concrete recommendations for improvement, falling into six main categories. Victoria Espinel, the U.S. Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator, overviews these six categories in The White House Blog. They are:
First, we will lead by example. Specifically, we will work to ensure that we do not mistakenly purchase or use illegal products.
Second, the strategy underscores that this Administration supports transparency. That includes transparency in our development of enforcement policy, information sharing, and reporting of law enforcement activities at home and abroad.
Third, we will improve coordination and thereby increase efficiency and effectiveness of law enforcement efforts at the Federal, state and local level, of personnel stationed overseas and of our international training efforts.
Fourth, we will work with our trading partners and within international organizations to better enforce American intellectual property rights in the global economy. In that regard, we will initiate a comprehensive review of current efforts in support of U.S. businesses that have difficulty enforcing their intellectual property rights in overseas markets, with a particular focus on China.
Fifth, we must secure our supply chain. To achieve this most important goal, we will take a close look at the unique problems posed by foreign-based websites and other entities that provide access to counterfeit or pirated products, and develop a coordinated and comprehensive plan to address them. We will make sure our law enforcement has the authority it needs to secure the supply chain and also encourage industry to work collaboratively to address unlawful activity on the internet, such as illegal downloading and illegal internet pharmacies.
Sixth, and finally, we will make sure we spend your money wisely, a process we have already begun. To do that, we have, and will continue to collect and track the amount of money we spend on intellectual property enforcement per year. We will use this information to map out the most effective way to fight this theft.
Read: 2010 Joint Strategic Plan on Intellectual Property Enforcement (June 2010) (65 pages, 891 kb)
Read: Federal Register Notice — Coordination and Strategic Planning of the Federal Effort Against Intellectual Property Infringement: Request of the Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator for Public Comments Regarding the Joint Strategic Plan
Read: Public Comments on the U.S. Intellectual Property Enforcement Joint Strategic Plan
