The White House wants the public's help in crafting a national intellectual property enforcement strategy.

Victoria Espinel, the new White House intellectual property enforcement coordinator, is charged with putting together a strategy to help protect America's innovation and creativity from falling seize to piracy and counterfeiting.

The strategy was mandated by the Pro IP Act passed by Congress in 2008, which also created Espinel's position. She's been in the job less than 3 months.

According to a notice in the Federal Register today, Espinel is looking for input on ways to decrease the supply of counterfeit goods both in the U.S. and overseas.

The Global IP Center is pushing the US Congress to enact a series of IP protection measures this year, including anti-counterfeiting and trademark protection.

For 2010, the center supports passage of the Customs Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Reauthorization Act of 2009, in an effort to stop the flow of counterfeit goods into the US.

The GIPC also promotes the conclusion of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement.

Finishing work on the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement is one of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's top 2010 intellectual property priorities, the group said Thursday. The chamber urged the countries involved in crafting ACTA to complete an agreement that is "ambitious and comprehensive, [builds] on existing international rules and norms, and [complements] the IP provisions of pending free trade agreements."

In a statement, the chamber also cited the need for law enforcement to do more to combat the digital theft of intellectual property.

A top US business lobby urged lawmakers Thursday to tighten laws to crack down on nations that infringed intellectual property rights.

The US Chamber of Commerce, which claims to represent over three million businesses, said it wanted Congress to enact legislation that would strengthen an annual government review of countries linked to copyright piracy.

The US Trade Representative (USTR) office places such countries on a blacklist, known as a "Priority Watch List," as part of its annual "Special 301 Report" that scrutinizes global intellectual property rights protection and enforcement.

"Congress should enact legislation to improve the US Trade Representative's 'Special 301' process by enhancing the tools available to the administration to engage more effectively with countries that fail to respect and enforce the rights of American innovators and/or live up to their international IP obligations," the chamber said in a report. 

The study, the "20

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce on Thursday will urge the Obama administration to more aggressively protect companies' intellectual-property rights by cracking down on Internet piracy and the exchange of counterfeit goods.

The chamber held a roundtable discussion on Thursday, where it outlined its agenda regarding intellectual-property rights. The chamber sent letters to Congress and President Barack Obama with suggestions and called on the administration to outline its strategies by this summer.

"A government-wide national intellectual property strategy should be a fundamental part of our nation's job strategy," said David Hirschmann, the head of the Chamber's Global Intellectual Property Center.

Read more....

NBC Universal Executive Vice President Rick Cotton said Thursday the Obama administration and the business community must develop and implement a national strategy to combat intellectual-property fraud.

U.S. firms across several sectors are facing lagging revenue, which is thwarting economic prosperity, innovation and employment, Cotton told reporters at a roundtable discussion at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce here.

"We can't wait. We have to take every step we can right now in terms of strengthening enforcement," said Cotton, who is also general counsel of NBC Universal, a unit of General Electric Co. (GE).

The Chamber outlined its agenda regarding intellectual-property rights at the roundtable.

Late last year, the White House and the U.S. Justice Department sharpened their focus on intellectual property. Now the business community is gearing up to push for even more resources and authority to fight piracy.

In a 2010 agenda released today, the intellectual property arm of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce called for the passage of legislation that would expand the authority of customs officials to investigate piracy. It also asked for completion of an anti-counterfeiting trade agreement, and it applauded December’s announcement of a Justice Department task force on intellectual property.

“We view this as an urgent priority,” said David Hirschmann, president and chief executive of the Chamber’s Global Intellectual Property Center.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce unveiled its intellectual property agenda for the year today, calling on the White House to enact a national strategy by summer as a crucial part of any jobs agenda. "What drives jobs and growth is innovation, technological invention and creativity," said NBC Universal Executive Vice President Rick Cotton. "Tolerating IP theft is really slow-motion economic suicide." The national plan was mandated by passage of a 2008 law that created the office of Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator in the White House. The Chamber's Global Intellectual Property Center's agenda centers on enforcement by recommending a boost in resources for Customs and Border Protection agents to stop the flow of counterfeit goods, fighting digital IP theft and completing work on the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement.

Dr. Mark Esper, executive vice president of U.S. Chamber’s GIPC, outlines GIPC’s 2010 intellectual property agenda as proposed to the Obama Administration and Congress.

SAN JOSE, Calif. — A U.S. business group is calling on the Obama administration to deliver by this summer the country's first national strategy plan for protecting intellectual property.

The Global IP Center, a branch of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce set up in 2007, sent letters to President Obama and members of Congress outliningthe group's positions. Drafting a national IP strategy is among the group's top concerns.

"A government-wide national intellectual property strategy should be a fundamental part of our nation's job strategy," said David Hirschmann, president and chief executive of GIPC.

The PRO-IP Act passed by Congress mandates the administration create a national IP strategy. President Obama has already named Victoria Espinel to the new position of U.S.