[Congressional Bills 103th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2041 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

103d CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2041

   To encourage beneficiary developing countries to provide adequate 
  protection of intellectual property rights, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

               April 21 (legislative day, April 11), 1994

  Mr. Lautenberg (for himself and Mr. Roth) introduced the following 
  bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To encourage beneficiary developing countries to provide adequate 
  protection of intellectual property rights, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Rights of Intellectual Property 
Owners Fairness Facilitation Act of 1994''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) United States industry loses billions of dollars each 
        year to countries that do not provide adequate protection of 
        intellectual property rights.
            (2) According to the Department of Commerce, United States 
        companies lose approximately $50,000,000,000 annually as a 
        result of violations of intellectual property rights by foreign 
        countries.
            (3) It is in the interest of the United States to leverage 
        its foreign policy to achieve certain trade policy objectives, 
        such as adequate, effective, and timely protection of 
        intellectual property rights.
            (4) Several countries that qualify under the generalized 
        system of preferences provisions have been identified under 
        section 182 of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2242) as 
        countries that do not provide adequate and effective protection 
        of patents, copyrights, and trademarks or deny fair and 
        equitable market access to United States persons that rely on 
        intellectual property rights protection.
            (5) Several countries that receive United States foreign 
        assistance also have been identified under section 182 of the 
        Trade Act of 1974 as countries that do not provide adequate and 
        effective protection of patents, copyrights, and trademarks or 
        deny fair and equitable market access to United States persons 
        that rely on intellectual property rights protection.

SEC. 3. COUNTRIES INELIGIBLE FOR GSP TREATMENT.

    (a) In General.--
            (1) Implementation of agreement on trips.--Section 502(b) 
        of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2462(b)) is amended--
                    (A) by striking ``and'' at the end of paragraph 
                (6),
                    (B) by striking the period at the end of paragraph 
                (7) and inserting ``; and'',
                    (C) by inserting immediately after paragraph (7) 
                the following new paragraph:
            ``(8) if such country is not implementing parts I, II, and 
        III of the Agreement on TRIPS--
                    ``(A) beginning on the date that is 1 year (2 years 
                in the case of a country with respect to which the 
                President has made a qualified certification) after the 
                date the Agreement enters into force and effect, or
                    ``(B) beginning on the date that is 5 years after 
                the date the Agreement enters into force and effect in 
                the case of a least-developed beneficiary developing 
                country.'',
                    (D) in the last sentence, by striking ``(4), (6), 
                (7), and (8)'' and inserting ``(4), (5), (6), (7), and 
                (8)'', and
                    (E) by adding at the end the following new 
                sentence: ``For purposes of paragraph (8)(A), a 
                `qualified certification' means a certification by the 
                President to the Congress that is made within 1 year 
                after the date the Agreement on TRIPS enters into force 
                and effect and that states that a country is making 
                overall significant progress in implementing parts I, 
                II, and III of the Agreement.''.
            (2) Conforming amendment.--Section 502(a) of such Act (19 
        U.S.C. 2462(a)) is amended by adding at the end the following 
        new paragraph:
            ``(5) For purposes of this title--
                    ``(A) the term `Agreement on TRIPS' means the 
                Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual 
                Property Rights entered into as part of the Uruguay 
                Round Agreements, and
                    ``(B) the term `Uruguay Round Agreements' means the 
                trade agreements resulting from the Uruguay Round of 
                multilateral trade negotiations under the auspices of 
                the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade.''.
    (b) Designation as Eligible GSP Country.--Section 502 of such Act 
(19 U.S.C. 2462) is amended by adding at the end the following new 
subsection:
    ``(f) Designation Where Country Adheres to the Agreement on TRIPS; 
Annual Reports.--
            ``(1) Designation as beneficiary developing country.--A 
        country--
                    ``(A) which has been denied designation as a 
                beneficiary developing country on the basis of 
                subsection (b)(8), or
                    ``(B) with respect to which such designation has 
                been withdrawn or suspended based on subsection (b)(8),
        may be designated as a beneficiary developing country under 
        this title, if the President determines that the country is 
        fully implementing parts I, II, and III of the Agreement on 
        TRIPS and reports the determination to the Congress.
            ``(2) Annual report.--Not later than the date that is 1 
        year after the date the Agreement on TRIPS enters into force 
        and effect, and annually thereafter, the President shall 
        determine whether each country designated as a beneficiary 
        developing country under this title is fully implementing parts 
        I, II, and III of the Agreement and shall report such findings 
        to the Congress.''.

SEC. 4. COORDINATION OF TRADE POLICY AND FOREIGN POLICY.

    (a) Other Efforts To Improve Protection of Intellectual Property 
Rights.--The United States Trade Representative shall notify the 
Secretary of State, the Secretary of Commerce, and the Administrator of 
the Agency for International Development on a regular basis of any 
country which is not fully implementing parts I, II, and III of the 
Agreement on TRIPS.
    (b) Encouraging Implementation of Agreement on TRIPS.--The 
Secretary of State, the Secretary of Commerce, and the Administrator of 
the Agency for International Development shall cooperate with the 
United States Trade Representative by encouraging any country that 
receives foreign assistance and is not fully implementing the Agreement 
on TRIPS to enact and enforce laws that will enable the country to 
implement the Agreement on TRIPS. To further this objective, the 
Secretary of State shall instruct the head of each United States 
diplomatic mission abroad to include intellectual property rights 
protection as a priority objective of the mission.
    (c) Other Actions To Encourage Protection of Intellectual Property 
Rights.--Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the President is 
authorized to undertake the following actions, where appropriate, with 
respect to a developing country to encourage and help the country 
improve the protection of intellectual property rights:
            (1) Provide Overseas Private Investment Corporation 
        insurance for intellectual property assets.
            (2) Require foreign assistance programs to provide support 
        for the development of national intellectual property laws and 
        regulations and for the development of the infrastructure 
        necessary to protect intellectual property rights.
            (3) Establish technical cooperation committees on 
        intellectual property standards within regional organizations.
            (4) Establish, as a joint effort between the United States 
        Government and the private sector, a council to facilitate and 
        provide intellectual property-related technical assistance 
        through the Agency for International Development and the 
        Department of Commerce.
            (5) Require United States representatives to multilateral 
        lending institutions to seek the establishment of programs 
        within the institutions to support strong intellectual property 
        rights protection in recipient countries that have fully 
        implemented parts I, II, and III of the Agreement on TRIPS.
    (d) Definitions.--For purposes of this section:
            (1) Agreement on trips.--The term ``Agreement on TRIPS'' 
        means the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual 
        Property Rights entered into as part of the trade agreements 
        resulting from the Uruguay Round of multilateral trade 
        negotiations under the auspices of the General Agreement on 
        Tariffs and Trade.
            (2) Developing country.--The term ``developing country'' 
        means any country which is--
                    (A) eligible to be designated a beneficiary 
                developing country pursuant to title V of the Trade Act 
                of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2461 et seq.), or
                    (B) designated as a least-developed beneficiary 
                developing country pursuant to section 504(c)(6) of 
                such Act (19 U.S.C. 2464(c)(6)).

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