[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 236 Introduced in House (IH)]

114th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 236

      To provide for the exchange of information related to trade 
                  enforcement, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 9, 2015

  Mr. Poe of Texas (for himself, Ms. Lofgren, Mr. Farenthold, and Mr. 
   Chabot) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                       Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
      To provide for the exchange of information related to trade 
                  enforcement, 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 ``Foreign Counterfeit Merchandise 
Prevention Act''.

SEC. 2. EXCHANGE OF INFORMATION RELATED TO TRADE ENFORCEMENT.

    Section 1905 of title 18, United States Code, is amended--
            (1) by striking ``Whoever'' and inserting ``(a) In 
        General.--Whoever''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(b) Provision of Information Relating to Merchandise Presented to 
Customs.--It shall not be a violation of this section for an officer or 
employee of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, upon detention and 
thereafter, to provide to the owner of a copyright or a registered 
mark, or to any person who may be injured by a violation of section 
1201 of title 17--
            ``(1) any information appearing on the merchandise, 
        including its retail packaging,
            ``(2) a sample of the merchandise and its retail packaging, 
        or
            ``(3) digital images of the merchandise and its retail 
        packaging,
as it was presented to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, without 
redaction, whether imported into or exported from the United States, or 
attempted to be exported from the United States, for purposes of 
determining whether the merchandise or its retail packaging infringes 
the copyright, bears or consists of a counterfeit mark of the 
registered mark, or is in violation of section 1201 of title 17, as the 
case may be.
    ``(c) Provision of Information Relating to Seized Merchandise.--It 
shall not be a violation of this section for an officer or employee of 
U.S. Customs and Border Protection, after seizing merchandise pursuant 
to a determination that the merchandise is in violation of section 1201 
of title 17, to provide, to persons injured by the violation, 
information with respect to the merchandise, including, but not limited 
to, the following:
            ``(1) The date of importation.
            ``(2) The port of entry.
            ``(3) The description of the merchandise from the entry.
            ``(4) The quantity involved.
            ``(5) The country of origin of the merchandise.
            ``(6) The name and address of the foreign manufacturer.
            ``(7) The name and address of the exporter.
            ``(8) The name and address of the importer.
            ``(9) Photographic or digital images of the merchandise.
    ``(d) Definitions.--As used in this section--
            ``(1) the term `registered mark' has the meaning given that 
        term in section 45 of the Lanham Act (15 U.S.C. 1127);
            ``(2) the term `Lanham Act' has the meaning given that term 
        in section 2320(f) of this title;
            ``(3) the term `counterfeit mark' has the meaning given 
        that term in section 2320(f) of this title; and
            ``(4) the term `without redaction' means, with respect to 
        merchandise, without removing, revising, or otherwise obscuring 
        any information, codes, marks, numbers, or any other markings 
        that appear on the merchandise or its retail packaging.
    ``(e) Rule of Construction.--Subsections (b), (c), and (d) apply 
only with respect to tangible goods presented to U.S. Customs and 
Border Protection for importation into, or exportation from, the United 
States.''.

SEC. 3. PREVENTION OF IMPORTATION OF MANUFACTURED GOODS BEARING 
              INFRINGING MARKS.

    (a) In General.--Section 42 of the Lanham Act (15 U.S.C. 1124), is 
amended--
            (1) in the first sentence, by striking ``Except as'' and 
        inserting ``(a) In General.--Except as'';
            (2) by striking ``of the Treasury'' each place it appears 
        and inserting ``of Homeland Security''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(b) Detention of Critical Merchandise.--With respect to critical 
merchandise that bears a registered trademark recorded under subsection 
(a), if U.S. Customs and Border Protection detains the merchandise 
because the merchandise is suspected of bearing a counterfeit mark, 
then, upon such detention, the Secretary--
            ``(1) shall provide to the owner of the registered 
        trademark any information on the critical merchandise and its 
        packaging and labels, including, without redaction, photographs 
        or digital images of the critical merchandise, packaging, and 
        labels; and
            ``(2) may, at any time, subject to any applicable bonding 
        and return requirements, provide to the owner of the registered 
        trademark samples of the critical merchandise, without 
        redaction.
    ``(c) Definitions.--In this section:
            ``(1) Critical merchandise.--
                    ``(A) In general.--The term `critical merchandise' 
                includes--
                            ``(i) aircraft engines, appliances, 
                        propellers, and spare parts;
                            ``(ii) motor vehicle equipment;
                            ``(iii) semiconductors; and
                            ``(iv) any other article of manufacture 
                        that the Secretary determines could, if 
                        permitted entry into the United States in 
                        violation of the laws of the United States pose 
                        a danger to the health, safety, or welfare of 
                        consumers, or to the national security of the 
                        United States.
                    ``(B) Other definitions.--For purposes of 
                subparagraph (A)--
                            ``(i) the terms `aircraft engine', 
                        `appliance', `propeller', and `spare part' have 
                        the meanings given those terms in section 
                        40102(a) of title 49, United States Code;
                            ``(ii) the term `motor vehicle equipment' 
                        has the meaning given that term in section 
                        30102(a) of title 49, United States Code; and
                            ``(iii) the term `semiconductor' means 
                        `semiconductor chip product' as defined in 
                        section 901 of title 17, United States Code.
            ``(2) Secretary.--The term `Secretary' means the Secretary 
        of Homeland Security.
            ``(3) Without redaction.--The term `without redaction' 
        means, with respect to merchandise, without removing, revising, 
        or otherwise obscuring any information, codes, marks, numbers, 
        or any other markings that appear on the merchandise or its 
        retail packaging.
    ``(d) Rule of Construction.--This section applies only with respect 
to tangible goods presented to U.S. Customs and Border Protection for 
importation into the United States.''.
    (b) Definition.--In this section, the term ``Lanham Act'' means the 
Act entitled ``An Act to provide for the registration and protection of 
trademarks used in commerce, to carry out the provisions of certain 
international conventions, and for other purposes'', approved July 5, 
1946 (15 U.S.C. 1051 et seq.).
    (c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall take 
effect upon the expiration of the 60-day period beginning on the date 
of the enactment of this Act.
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