[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5117 Introduced in House (IH)]






108th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 5117

To establish in the Office of the United States Trade Representative an 
Assistant United States Trade Representative for Intellectual Property 
                                Rights.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 21, 2004

  Mr. Schiff (for himself, Mr. Goodlatte, Mr. Becerra, and Mr. Foley) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
                             Ways and Means

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To establish in the Office of the United States Trade Representative an 
Assistant United States Trade Representative for Intellectual Property 
                                Rights.

    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 ``Fortifying America's Intellectual 
Property Rights (FAIR) Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds as follows:
            (1) International markets are vital to intellectual 
        property industries in the United States, providing a strong 
        export base that sustains jobs in the United States. This 
        sector of the United States economy is threatened due to 
        widespread patent and trademark infringement and the 
        unauthorized reproduction, distribution, and sale of 
        copyrighted works created in the United States.
            (2) The United States is the world's largest creator, 
        producer, and exporter of copyrighted materials, accounting for 
        more than 5 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the 
        United States and adding billions of dollars to the United 
        States economy annually.
            (3) International markets are vital to creative industries 
        in the United States, providing a strong export base that 
        sustains jobs in the United States. This sector of the United 
        States economy is threatened due to widespread piracy--the 
        unauthorized reproduction, distribution, and sale of works 
        created in the United States.
            (4) Global piracy affecting the motion picture industry is 
        estimated as amounting to $3,500,000,000 annually, not 
        including illegal downloading. Globally, 2 in 5 music 
        recordings are pirated copies, with annual world-wide sales of 
        pirated music estimated at from $4,000,000,000 to 
        $5,000,000,000. The software industry estimates losses of more 
        than $13,000,000,000 in 2002 due to worldwide piracy.
            (5) The United States Trade Representative (USTR) has been 
        charged with identifying countries that deny adequate and 
        effective protection of intellectual property rights. The 
        effective use of trade tools by the USTR, including the 
        negotiation of bilateral free trade agreements, serves an 
        essential role in protecting abroad the intellectual property 
        rights of United States persons.
            (6) The Office of the USTR has more than 20 offices 
        dedicated to specific areas of expertise, but does not include 
        an office solely dedicated to the protection abroad of the 
        intellectual property rights of United States persons. 
        Currently, the Office of the Assistant United States Trade 
        Representative for Services, Investment and Intellectual 
        Property has a substantially large workload, given that 
        services and investment account for more than 50 percent of the 
        United States economy.
            (7) The USTR's ability to meet its mandate to protect 
        abroad the intellectual property rights of United States 
        persons should be enhanced by establishing a separate office 
        dedicated exclusively to intellectual property matters, headed 
        by an Assistant United States Trade Representative for 
        Intellectual Property Rights. The resources dedicated to 
        securing high standards of protection in trade agreements and 
        enforcing those provisions vigorously should likewise be 
        enhanced.

SEC. 3. ASSISTANT U.S. TRADE REPRESENTATIVE FOR INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY 
              RIGHTS.

    Section 141(c) of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2171(c)) is 
amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(6)(A) There shall be in the Office the position of Assistant 
United States Trade Representative for Intellectual Property Rights. 
The Assistant United States Trade Representative for Intellectual 
Property Rights shall be appointed by the United States Trade 
Representative.
    ``(B) The Assistant United States Trade Representative for 
Intellectual Property Rights shall have primary responsibility for--
            ``(i) intellectual property matters relating to bilateral 
        and multilateral trade agreements, including--
                    ``(I) enforcement of, and any modifications to, the 
                Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual 
                Property Rights referred to in section 101(d)(15) of 
                the Uruguay Round Agreements Act (19 U.S.C. 
                3511(d)(15)); and
                    ``(II) the negotiation and enforcement of 
                intellectual property provisions of any other bilateral 
                or multilateral trade agreement to which the United 
                States is a party;
            ``(ii) the identification of countries under paragraphs (1) 
        and (2) of section 182(a) of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 
        2242(a)(1) and (2)), and any investigations under chapter 1 of 
        title III of that Act (19 U.S.C. 2411 et seq.) arising from 
        such identification or other actions of a foreign country 
        described in section 182(a)(1) of that Act; and
            ``(iii) monitoring the extent to which the trading partners 
        of the United States protect and enforce intellectual property 
        rights of United States persons.
    ``(C) At least 6 professional staff members shall be assigned to 
assist the Assistant United States Trade Representative for 
Intellectual Property Rights in carrying out his or her functions, of 
which 3 shall be assigned to matters relating to enforcement.
    ``(D) The Assistant United States Trade Representative should 
direct and coordinate all interagency activities, including in 
consultation with the Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual 
Property and Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office 
and the Register of Copyrights, on trade-related intellectual property 
matters and serve as the primary contact in the executive branch for 
all matters described in subparagraph (B).
    ``(E) The Assistant United States Trade Representative for 
Intellectual Property Rights shall receive compensation at the rate of 
pay payable for level IV of the Executive Schedule under section 5315 
of title 5, United States Code.''.

SEC. 4. CONSTRUCTION.

     Nothing in this Act or the amendment made by this Act shall be 
construed to limit the powers and duties of the United States Patent 
and Trademark Office or the United States Copyright Office.
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