South Bend, IN—Today, Congressman Joe Donnelly sent a letter to President Bush calling upon his administration to take steps to curb intellectual property (IP) theft in order to protect American jobs and innovation. The letter was signed by a bipartisan group of congressmen and women.
“I sent this letter to the president because I am impatient for action on this issue,” Donnelly said. “Congress is working to broadly and smartly reform our existing intellectual property laws, but it’s doubtful any reform will become final before the end of this year. When American innovation and jobs are at stake, I firmly believe that the federal government should do all it can, as quickly as it can. That’s why I’ve asked the president to take these actions now.”
In September 2007, Congressman Donnelly helped introduce H.R. 3578, The Intellectual Property Rights Enforcement Act. This legislation would establish the Intellectual Property Enforcement Network (IPEN), consisting of specified representatives of various government agencies to establish policies concerning international intellectual property protection and law enforcement. It would also require the agencies in IPEN to share information they collect, coordinate civil and criminal actions related to intellectual property rights, and establish formal processes for consulting and working with state and local government agencies.
This past May, H.R. 4279, The Prioritizing Resources and Organization for Intellectual Property Act of 2008, a bill similar to Donnelly’s, passed the House of Representatives. This legislation would set up a new agency within the Department of Justice, while Donnelly’s bill sought to set up a position in the Office of Management and Budget.
Donnelly also met with the Chinese Ambassador on two occasions this past year to discuss the problems businesses in north central Indiana, such as ABRO Industries, Inc. are having with Chinese companies stealing their intellectual property and patented product designs. Weeks after the second meeting, Donnelly learned that the Chinese Supreme Court had ruled against a Chinese company on a trademark infringement case against ABRO.
Donnelly’s letter to the president calls upon his administration to replace the current loose interagency approach to tracking intellectual property (IP) theft with an IPEN. In addition, it asks that The National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center, which is comprised of five agencies charged with coordinating the enforcement of IP laws, be made to establish quantifiable performance goals so that their enforcement efforts can be assessed. The president could make these changes with executive orders.
“Manufacturers in Indiana and across the country have lost an estimated 750,000 jobs and $250 billion in revenue because of this theft. Our foreign competitors are cheating. This needs to stop and our government needs to aggressively act to put an end to this fraudulent behavior,” Donnelly added.
The letter was signed by Melissa Bean (D-IL), Donald Manzullo (R-IL) and Zack Space (D-OH).
To read a copy of Donnelly's letter, click here.
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