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S. 3325 (110th): Prioritizing Resources and Organization for Intellectual Property Act of 2008

Introduced:
Jul 24, 2008 (110th Congress, 2007–2009)
Status:
Signed by the President
Slip Law:
This bill became Pub.L. 110-403.
Sponsor
Patrick Leahy
Senator from Vermont
Party
Democrat
Text
Read Text »
Last Updated
Sep 29, 2008
Length
25 pages
 
Status

This bill was enacted after being signed by the President on October 13, 2008.

Progress
Introduced Jul 24, 2008
Referred to Committee Jul 24, 2008
Reported by Committee Sep 11, 2008
Passed Senate Sep 26, 2008
Passed House Sep 28, 2008
Signed by the President Oct 13, 2008
 
Full Title

A bill to enhance remedies for violations of intellectual property laws, and for other purposes.

Summary

No summaries available.

Votes
On Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass
Sep 28, 2008 5:03 p.m.
Passed 381/41

Cosponsors
21 cosponsors (11D, 10R) (show)
Committees

Senate Judiciary

The committee chair determines whether a bill will move past the committee stage.

 
Primary Source

THOMAS.gov (The Library of Congress)

GovTrack gets most information from THOMAS, which is updated generally one day after events occur. Activity since the last update may not be reflected here. Data comes via the congress project.

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Notes

S. stands for Senate bill.

A bill must be passed by both the House and Senate in identical form and then be signed by the president to become law.

GovTrack’s Bill Summary

We don’t have a summary available yet.

Library of Congress Summary

The summary below was written by the Congressional Research Service, which is a nonpartisan division of the Library of Congress.

10/13/2008--Public Law.
Prioritizing Resources and Organization for Intellectual Property Act of 2008 -
Title I - Enhancements to Civil Intellectual Property Laws
Section 101 -
Amends federal copyright law to provide that copyright registration requirements apply to civil (not criminal) infringement actions and provide a safe harbor for copyright registrations that contain inaccurate information.
Section 102 -
Allows a court, while an infringement action is pending, to impound records documenting the manufacture, sale, or receipt of related things, requiring a protective order to ensure that confidential, private, proprietary, or privileged information is not improperly disclosed or used.
Amends trademark seizure provisions to broaden protective order requirements.
Section 103 -
Amends the Trademark Act to revise treble damages provisions and double statutory damages in counterfeiting cases.
Section 104 -
Doubles statutory damage minimums and maximums for the use of counterfeit trademarks.
Section 105 -
Makes exportation of copies or phonorecords without the copyright owner's authority an infringement. (Importation is already an infringement.)
Title II - Enhancements to Criminal Intellectual Property Laws
Section 205 -
Imposes criminal penalties if, in intentionally trafficking in counterfeit goods or services, an offender knowingly or recklessly causes serious bodily injury or death.
Prohibits the transshipment or exportation of counterfeit goods or services and deems such acts to be violations of the Acts commonly referred to as the Trademark Act of 1946 or the Lanham Act.
Section 206 -
Requires, for civil and criminal violations of certain provisions, the forfeiture and destruction of any articles involved, any property used in commission of the offense, and property constituting or derived from proceeds obtained directly or indirectly from the offense.
(Those provisions relate to:
(1) economic espionage involving trade secrets and benefiting any foreign government, instrumentality, or agent;
(2) criminal copyright infringement;
(3) trafficking in counterfeit goods or services;
(4) unauthorized fixation of, and trafficking in, sound and video recordings of live musical performances; and
(5) unauthorized recording of motion pictures.)
Requires, in addition, restitution for violation of such provisions.
Section 208 -
Revises the penalties applicable to various criminal copyright violations.
Title III - Coordination and strategic Planning of Federal Effort Against Counterfeiting and Infringement
Section 301 -
Directs the President to appoint an Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator (IPEC). Includes in the IPEC's duties chairing the interagency intellectual property enforcement advisory committee (IIPEAC) established by this Act and coordinating the development, and assisting in the implementation, of the IIPEAC's Joint Strategic Plan against counterfeiting and piracy.
Section 303 -
Requires the Plan to include in its objectives:
(1) reducing counterfeit and infringing goods in the domestic and international supply chain;
(2) identifying and addressing structural weaknesses, systemic flaws, or other unjustified impediments to effective enforcement;
(3) ensuring that information is identified and shared among the relevant departments and agencies;
(4) disrupting and eliminating domestic and international counterfeiting and infringement networks; and
(5) providing training and technical assistance to foreign governments to enhance those governments' enforcement of counterfeiting and infringement laws.
Requires a report every three years to the House and Senate Judiciary and Appropriations Committees.
Section 304 -
Requires an annual report to Congress on the IIPEAC's activities.
Section 305 -
Amends the Treasury and General Government Appropriations Act, 2000 to repeal provisions establishing the National Intellectual Property Law Enforcement Coordination Council, effective on Senate confirmation of the IPEC.
Section 306 -
Authorizes appropriations to carry out this title.
Title IV - Department of Justice Programs
Section 401 -
Amends the Computer Crime Enforcement Act to allow existing grants to combat computer crime to be used for activities relating to infringement of copyrighted works over the Internet. Authorizes appropriations.
Authorizes the Office of Justice Programs of the Department of Justice (DOJ) to make grants for training, prevention, enforcement, and prosecution of intellectual property theft and infringement crimes. Authorizes appropriations.
Section 402 -
Requires the Attorney General, subject to appropriations, to:
(1) ensure that there are at least 10 additional operational Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents designated to support the DOJ's Computer Crime and Intellectual Property section on the investigation and coordination of intellectual property crimes;
(2) increase by at least one the number of FBI agents supporting any DOJ Computer Hacking and Intellectual Property Crime Unit;
(3) ensure that all such Units located at a U.S. Attorney's office are assigned at least two Assistant United States Attorneys;
(4) ensure the implementation of a regular and comprehensive intellectual property training program; and
(5) create and implement a comprehensive, long-range plan to investigate and prosecute international organized crime syndicates engaging in or supporting crimes relating to intellectual property theft.
Authorizes appropriations.
Section 403 -
Authorizes appropriations to hire and train law enforcement officers to investigate and prosecute intellectual property crimes and other crimes committed using information technology, including through the Internet, and to enable DOJ units to procure advanced tools of forensic science and expert computer forensic assistance to investigate, prosecute, and study such crimes.
Section 404 -
Directs the Attorney General and the FBI's director each to report annually to Congress on actions to carry out this title.
Title V - Miscellaneous
Section 501 -
Requires the Comptroller General to report to Congress on how the federal government could better protect the intellectual property of manufacturers by quantification of the impacts of imported and domestic counterfeit goods on the U.S. manufacturing industry and on the overall U.S. economy.
Section 502 -
Requires the Comptroller General to report to the House and Senate Judiciary Committees on the Judiciary of the Senate and to the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives on:
(1) the actions of the IPEC and the Attorney General in carrying out this Act;
(2) any possible legislative, administrative, or regulatory changes to better achieve this Act's goals and purposes;
(3) the effectiveness of any actions taken by the IPEC and the Attorney General to minimize duplicating the efforts, materials, facilities, and procedures of any other federal agency and to enhance efficiency and consistency in enforcing, investigating, or prosecuting intellectual property crimes; and
(4) any actions to reduce duplication of efforts and increase that efficiency and consistency.
Section 503 -
Expresses the sense of Congress that: (1) effective criminal enforcement of the intellectual property laws should be among the Attorney General's highest priorities; and (2) the Attorney General shall give priority to intellectual property theft cases with a nexus to terrorism and organized crime.
Expresses the sense of Congress that, with respect to criminal counterfeiting and infringement of computer software, the Attorney General should give priority to cases:
(1) involving willful theft for commercial advantage or private financial gain;
(2) where the theft is central to the viability of the commercial activity of the enterprise (or subsidiary) involved in the violation;
(3) where the counterfeited or infringing goods or services enable unfair competition; or
(4) where there is actual knowledge of the theft by the directors or officers of the enterprise.

House Republican Conference Summary

The summary below was written by the House Republican Conference, which is the caucus of Republicans in the House of Representatives.

No summary available.

House Democratic Caucus Summary

The House Democratic Caucus does not provide summaries of bills.

So, yes, we display the House Republican Conference’s summaries when available even if we do not have a Democratic summary available. That’s because we feel it is better to give you as much information as possible, even if we cannot provide every viewpoint.

We’ll be looking for a source of summaries from the other side in the meanwhile.

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