Even though Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus and ranking member Charles Grassley are up to their eyeballs in healthcare reform, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's Coalition Against Counterfeiting and Piracy wants them to keep intellectual property on their radar screen. Coalition Chairman Richard Cotton, who also serves as general counsel for NBC Universal, wrote to the pair Monday commending them for including provisions aimed at bolstering IP protections in their customs and trade enforcement reauthorization bill. The measure was introduced just before August recess.
The legislation would ensure that there is sufficient leadership, resources, and legal tools to sustain effective IP enforcement at the Homeland Security Department, Customs Border Protection, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Cotton wrote. The measure would allow those agencies "to work smarter and faster to stop the importation of counterfeit goods while also speeding legitimate commerce." Protecting IP is essential to creating quality jobs and growing the U.S. economy, he stated, noting that IP dependent industries in the U.S. account for more than $5 trillion of the gross domestic product and comprise more than half of all exports.
New Media
Online Politics
Tech Policy
Comments
To post a comment, you must provide a name and a valid e-mail address. Messages must be limited to 400 words. By using this service you agree not to post material that is obscene, harassing, defamatory, or otherwise objectionable. Although Tech Daily Dose does not monitor comments posted to this site (and has no obligation to), it reserves the right to delete, edit, or move any material that it deems to be in violation of this rule.