[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 62 (Thursday, April 29, 2010)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E712]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    WORLD INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY DAY

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                               speech of

                           HON. BOB GOODLATTE

                              of virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, April 27, 2010

  Mr. GOODLATTE. Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of H. Res. 
1208, which expresses support for World IP Day.
  April 26, 2010 was the 10th annual World IP Day. This day was 
designated by the member nations of the World Intellectual Property 
Organization in order to raise awareness of how patents, copyright, and 
trademarks impact daily life, to raise understanding of how protecting 
IP rights helps promote creativity and innovation, to celebrate the 
contributions of creators and innovators to societies around the world, 
and to encourage respect for the IP rights of others.
  When the Founders of our great Nation crafted the U.S. Constitution, 
they saw fit to include provisions to provide for the protection of 
intellectual property. They believed that if authors and inventors had 
the exclusive ability to use and reap a return on their creations for a 
limited time, then those artists and inventors would have the financial 
incentive to create new and exciting products that would benefit 
society and our economy. And it worked!
  Today, America is the world leader in innovation and creativity 
precisely because of our Founders' foresight and our Nation's 
exceptionally strong intellectual property laws. Furthermore, the IP 
industries in America are a major driving force and job-creating engine 
of our economy.
  Recently I had the opportunity to talk with a famous American author 
who told a story that hammered home how much the creative ideas of one 
man, if properly protected by intellectual property laws, can multiply 
into real jobs for real people. He wrote a best-selling novel. That 
novel then needed to be edited, reviewed, printed, marketed and 
distributed. The novel then became a movie, which needed to be 
produced, reviewed, distributed and shown in movie theatres, then in 
movie rental shops all across the country. The protected idea of one 
man helped to create all these jobs down the line. It is stories like 
this that need to be told on World IP Day.
  In today's digital world, the Internet's fast connections can be used 
to download, upload and otherwise share illegal copies of songs, 
movies, games, and software at unprecedented levels. As we continue our 
journey into the digital age, it is even more important that we 
continue to jealously guard creators' intellectual property rights in 
order to foster new content, innovative products, and American jobs.

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