President Obama Signs Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act, Expands Customs IP Enforcement Tools | Practical Law

President Obama Signs Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act, Expands Customs IP Enforcement Tools | Practical Law

President Obama has signed H.R. 644, commonly known as the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act, into law. Among other things, the Act expands the copyright and trademark enforcement capabilities of US Customs and Border Protection.

President Obama Signs Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act, Expands Customs IP Enforcement Tools

by Practical Law Intellectual Property & Technology
Published on 01 Mar 2016 • USA (National/Federal)
President Obama has signed H.R. 644, commonly known as the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act, into law. Among other things, the Act expands the copyright and trademark enforcement capabilities of US Customs and Border Protection.
On February 24, 2016, President Obama signed H.R. 644, commonly known as the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act, into law.
Title III of the Act, entitled "Import-Related Protection of Intellectual Property Rights," enhances the capabilities of US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to enforce trademarks, copyrights, and certain other intellectual property. Among other things, the Act:
  • Expands CBP's copyright enforcement to include copyrights covered by pending applications for registration.
  • Authorizes the seizure of devices for circumventing access control measures imported in violation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) (17 U.S.C. § 1201).
  • Codifies the establishment of the National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center within US Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
  • Broadens CBP's sharing of information with:
    • owners of copyrights suspected of being infringed by imported goods;
    • in the case of imported goods suspected of being primarily designed or produced for the purpose of circumventing technological measures for control of access to works, owners of copyrights in works protected by those measures; and
    • in the case of counterfeit merchandise, owners of trademarks suspected of being copied or simulated by imported goods.
The information sharing portion of the Act adds a provision to the Tariff Act of 1930. Under the new section 628A (to be inserted after 19 U.S.C. § 1628), if a CBP officer suspects that infringing or counterfeit merchandise is being imported into the US and finds that an examination by the copyright or trademark owner would aid CBP enforcement, the officer may provide to the owner:
  • Information that appears on the merchandise, including unredacted images of the merchandise and its packaging and labels.
  • Unredacted samples of the merchandise, subject to the owner's compliance with any applicable bonding requirements.