With elections looming in under two weeks, Congress will be scrambling to complete its work on a number of "must pass" legislative matters during its "lame duck" session. Given the time-constraints, it's unlikely that we'll see significant action on IP-related matters before the end of the 118th Congress.
We will be closely watching the Senate's work on the National Defense Authorization Act however, which does include provisions that the IACC has advocated for in recent years (see below).
We'll also be spending much of the next 2 months working with members to develop priorities and an over-all advocacy strategy for the new session that will begin in January.
We welcome your engagement on the issues highlighted below, and your input regarding your companies' priorities for 2025 and 2026.
IACC Submits Comments to USTR - Notorious Markets
On October 2nd, the IACC filed comments with the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative in response to a request for input for USTR’s annual Notorious Markets review. The IACC’s submission highlighted concerns voiced by rights-holders in connection with two dozen brick and mortar marketplaces around the world, in addition to eight international e-commerce platforms. USTR is currently reviewing stakeholders’ comments, as well as rebuttal comments offered by platform operators. The final report by USTR is expected to be published in early 2024.
Save the Date – IACC Legislative Working Group Kickoff Meeting
On Thursday, November 14th, the IACC Legislative Working Group will be hosting a meeting to discuss members’ legislative and policy priorities for the 119th Congress.
If you’d like to join this members-only discussion, please contact Travis Johnson (tjohnson@iacc.org) for additional details.
Shop Safely Event on Capitol Hill
On September 25th, the IACC joined a number of organizations in hosting a “Shop Safely” event to educate Members of Congress and their staff on Capitol Hill. Attendees had an opportunity to hear from leading policy makers and stakeholders across numerous product sectors to hear firsthand about risks posed by counterfeit goods, and to learn how to protect themselves and their loved ones from those dangers.
Grassley Legislation Re: Public-Private Partnership for Border Enforcement of IPR
Legislation sponsored by Senators Grassley and Hassan, aimed at resolving long-standing concerns about the authority of U.S. Customs and Border Protection to share information with, and seek assistance from, private-sector stakeholders continues to progress in the Senate; and we’re hopeful that it may yet pass before the end of the year.
Senate Amendment 2955, offered in connection with the upper chamber’s Defense Authorization bill (S. 4638) has been incorporated into the manager’s amendment for that “must pass” legislation, and is expected to be included in the final bill voted on by the Senate during the upcoming lame duck session. A standalone version of the legislation – S. 5160 – has also been introduced, though is unlikely to move on its own.
SA 2955 includes language that has been vetted and endorsed by a number of associations representing IP owners, as well as CBP itself, aimed at clarifying the agency’s statutory authority surrounding the range of information that CBP can share with relevant stakeholders in connection with its IP enforcement efforts, and the range of parties with whom such information can be shared.
Unfortunately, similar provisions were not included in the House version of the Defense Authorization bill, so passage of the Senate bill is only the first step to enacting this new authority; it must then survive the Conference process between the House & Senate in order to become law. To that end, we are currently focusing our advocacy efforts on the House – including members of the Ways & Means and Judiciary Committees, which have primary jurisdiction over legislation involving Customs and trade, and intellectual property issues, respectively.
If you’d like to assist with these efforts, please contact Travis Johnson – tjohnson@iacc.org – at your earliest convenience.
SHOP SAFE Act
With the end of the 118th Congress rapidly approaching, prospects for the enactment of the SHOP SAFE Act (S. 2934 / H.R. 8684) have grown increasingly slim. But while the bill – which would require the implementation of a number of best practices by e-commerce platforms, or else risk the imposition of contributory liability for sales of counterfeits by third-party sellers – is unlikely to pass during the current session; the bills’ sponsors (Sens. Coons & Tillis, and Reps. Issa & Nadler) remain committed to advancing the legislation, and we expect SHOP SAFE to re-emerge in some form in the 119th.
Staff in both chambers have been hard at work refining the legislative language in hopes of finding a compromise that would be agreeable to stakeholders on both sides of the issue. We look forward to working with our colleagues in the House and Senate, to build upon these considerable efforts next year.
USPTO – Gulf Cooperation Council Judicial Program
On Thursday, October 31st, IACC’s VP for Legislative Affairs, Travis Johnson, will participate in a panel discussion alongside other industry partners to discuss rights-holders’ anti-counterfeiting and anti-piracy priorities throughout the Middle East region.
The session is being held as part of a program jointly hosted by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and the Gulf Cooperation Council, with an audience comprised of members of the judiciary from Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. In recent years, the IACC has recommended four of those six jurisdictions for placement on USTR’s Special 301 Watch List or Priority Watch List, citing a variety of concerns related to the protection and enforcement of IPR. Among the most common concerns shared with the IACC by member brands has been the need for courts across the region to impose more meaningful, and deterrent, penalties in cases involving IP offenses.
We greatly appreciate the work of the USPTO in organizing this event, and providing the IACC with an opportunity to share rights-holders’ concerns with judges from each country.
OECD Working Party on Countering Illicit Trade - Best Practices for E-commerce
The OECD’s Working Party on Countering Illicit Trade continues the work it undertook approximately two years ago seeking to develop a set of best practices for rights-holders, governments, and e-commerce platforms in addressing the trafficking of counterfeit goods online.
Phase two of that work concluded last October with the completion of a working document, which the IACC was happy to contribute to. More recently, we signed on to a letter encouraging the U.S. government to ensure a transparent and inclusive process moving forward that will allow for additional feedback from a broad selection of stakeholders who could be impacted by USG’s endorsement of the best practices document.
We wish to thank the OECD and our partners in the U.S. government for their continuing work on these issues.
International AntiCounterfeiting Coalition, 727 15th Street NW, 9th Floor, Washington, District of Columbia 20005, United States
