Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Kappos Calls For Strong IP Enforcement

IBM Assistant General Counsel David Kappos, President Obama's pick for Patent and Trademark Office director, appeared before a congratulatory and largely sympathetic Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday. During the hearing, he outlined his priorities for the agency, should he be confirmed, and answered questions about the PTO's internal turmoil while offering thoughts about various legislative proposals before Congress that are intended to update the U.S. patent system for the 21st century. Details are available in CongressDaily's PM Edition here (subscription required).

But Kappos, who has a broad knowledge of intellectual property issues, also weighed in on the economic import of IP protection and spoke about the piracy and counterfeiting challenges faced by the movie, music and software industries. In response to a question from the committee's newest member, Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., Kappos said the United States "unquestionably" faces IP theft problems on a global scale. He hinted at "new capabilities" in the Obama administration -- presumably the yet-to-be-named White House IP czar -- that he expects will lead to "aggressive actions" against bootleggers and more collaboration with foreign counterparts.

He went on to say that, if confirmed, he would work with various administration officials "to engage with whatever countries are needed" including IP offenders in Asia, Eastern Europe and Africa. Kappos said the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative's annual "Special 301" report, which documents countries doing poorly on IP and those that are improving, is "clearly an important part" of the effort. Education is also essential. He said the U.S. government should work with the governments of other countries to help put in place new laws and enforcement scenarios that protect the rights of content creators.