Points of Contact
European Commission:
(name)
Email:
Telephone: | U.S. Government:
(name)
Email:
Telephone: |
EU Delegation in Washington:
(name)
Email:
Telephone: | U.S. Mission to the EU:
Ashley Miller, Commerce;
Telephone: +32 2 508 2769
Email: Ashley.Miller@mail.doc.gov |
Reference
Framework, Annex 2, A; Annex 3.
Goal
Enhance recognition and enforcement of intellectual property rights.
Specific Objectives
Implement U.S.-EU Action Strategy on Intellectual Property Rights Enforcement.
Continue efforts to advance patent global harmonization.
Progress
- The United States and the European Union (together with others) continue to negotiate an Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement to enhance international leadership on IPR enforcement and cooperation.
- The EU-U.S. cooperation on IP enforcement has been a success story. The IPR Working Group meets formally each year, seeking industry input and collaboration for further joint initiatives.
- U.S. and EU IPR enforcement experts are deepening their information-sharing about key countries, such as China and Russia, by means of regular meetings and joint IP networks of diplomats.
- Activities have focused in particular on joint enforcement efforts at the WTO and in third countries, in particular in China and Russia; and joint organization of seminars in Russia (digital piracy), in Latin America (tri-border region) and in ASEAN countries.
- Closer customs co-operation, including joint border enforcement actions, has been an area of particular attention. The first joint customs cooperation project (Operation INFRASTRUCTURE) was a success; U.S. and EU customs authorities seized 360,000 counterfeit semiconductors and computer network hardware components.
- On global patent law harmonization, the U.S. and the EU continue to meet within the “Group B+” to advance discussions on patent law harmonization in the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).
Next Steps
- A joint U.S.–EU IPR enforcement stakeholder meeting will be held in Brussels in Spring 2010.
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