Spending Bill Funds IP Enforcement
When President Barack Obama approved a $410 billion omnibus spending bill for fiscal year 2009 last week, he made the first two appropriations related to legislation passed by the 110th Congress that is aimed at fighting counterfeiting and piracy. The Prioritizing Resources and Organization for Intellectual Property Act, which former President George W. Bush signed in October, increased both civil and criminal penalties for trademark and copyright infringement and created the yet-to-be-named post of an IP enforcement coordinator at the White House. Specifically, the omnibus included $9.4 million for hiring new FBI agents dedicated to work solely on IP issues, according to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which pressed lawmakers to pass the IP measure.
The funding will allow the addition of two agents in each of the field offices containing Computer Hacking and Intellectual Property units, which the Justice Department has determined most merit assistance in IP rights investigations, with no less than 26 agents assigned for this purpose. The money also provides for the creation of an additional and distinct operational unit at FBI headquarters with at least five full-time, permanent agents dedicated to working with DOJ's Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section on complex, multi-district and international criminal IP cases. Additionally, the omnibus allocates $18 million for state and local grants for "economic, high-tech and cybercrime prevention." While not IP specific, grant requests for IP enforcement would be eligible.
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