News Stories Archives

News Brief: Report Calls for Action to Stop Counterfeiting in Free Trade Zones

Published on May 15, 2013

A new report from ICC’s Business Action to Stop Counterfeiting and Piracy (BASCAP) initiative calls for increased regulation and better management of free trade zones (FTZs) to stop the alarming trend of the use of FTZs to facilitate the manufacture, distribution, and sale of counterfeit products.

The report, Controlling the Zone: Balancing facilitation and control to combat illicit trade in the world’s Free Trade Zones, looks at the increasing vulnerability of FTZs to criminal activities that are facilitating the global trade of counterfeit and pirated products. It summarizes the circumstances that have enabled the exploitation of FTZs, including an examination of weaknesses in international agreements, national legislation and judicial enforcement.

National governments encourage the creation of FTZs to increase trade and attract investment by removing or reducing duties and tariffs, softening customs controls and largely decreasing oversight in FTZs. These incentives have simultaneously made it easier for criminals to set up illicit operations, with increasing evidence showing that FTZs are being exploited to facilitate the international trade in counterfeit and pirated goods.

Last year, USCIB welcomed the Obama administration’s rollback of planned changes to the rules governing U.S. free trade zones. USCIB had earlier said some of the proposed changes would impose significant hurdles for exporters.

Read more and download the report on the ICC website.

Staff contacts: Helen Medina and Nasim Deylami

More on USCIB’s Intellectual Property Committee

More on USCIB’s Customs and Trade Facilitation Committee

ICC to Co-Host Intellectual Property Seminar in Beijing

Published on September 25, 2012

beijing lanternsThe International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) Commission on Intellectual Property is teaming up with the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT) to co-host a conference entitled “Increasing Economic and Business Competitiveness Using Intellectual Assets” in Beijing on October 26.

Organized principally for Chinese policymakers, corporate representatives and intellectual property (IP) professionals, the event will bring in top speakers from China and beyond, including Tian Lipu, Commissioner of the State Intellectual Property Office of China (SIPO), David Koris, Global Head of Intellectual Property for Shell, senior figures in the U.S. and European patent offices, and IP specialists from major companies.

Talks will focus on how IP can help businesses and be used in government strategies to boost economic competitiveness, promote innovation and attract investment.

“We’re delighted to be working with CCPIT to organize this conference. Intellectual property is a crucial tool for businesses in today’s economy, and we hope this event will stimulate a fruitful exchange between businesses and government officials from inside and outside China on some key intellectual property issues facing businesses and governments,” said David Koris, who is also Chair of the ICC Commission on Intellectual Property.

Shell, Beiqi Foton Motor Co., State Nuclear Power Technology Cooperation, Monsanto and General Electric are just a few of the businesses whose high-level IP specialists will speak at the event.

For more information on which topics will be discussed, click here.

Staff Contact: Helen Medina

Intellectual Property Conference in Beijing Program

More on USCIB’s Intellectual Property Committee

New Study on Benefits of AntiCounterfeiting Trade Agreement

Published on February 29, 2012

Business Action to Stop Counterfeiting and Piracy (BASCAP) – an initiative of the International Chamber of Commerce, part of USCIB’s global network – joined with the International Trademark Association in releasing a study that provides a practical analysis of the importance and benefits of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA).

The study aims to add clarity to the debate on ACTA in Europe by outlining how ACTA promotes EU trade and economic growth, as well as how it protects consumers and EU companies of all sizes against the negative impacts of counterfeiting and piracy.

It provides a detailed analysis of the provisions of ACTA and reaffirms the conclusion that ACTA is fully consistent with the laws of the EU and its member states, citing specific sections that expressly provide for protection of civil liberties, fair processes, privacy and other important fundamental rights and values of the EU.

Read more on ICC’s website.

More on USCIB’s Intellectual Property Committee

Silicon Valley General Counsels Learn About Emerging Global Legal Challenges

Published on November 1, 2011
USCIB’s Charlene Flick
USCIB’s Charlene Flick

On October 21, Charlene Flick, director of intellectual property and competition at USCIB, addressed the Silicon Valley Association of General Counsel in Santa Clara, California.  Ms. Flick discussed emerging legal challenges for U.S. companies as they expand internationally, and specifically how USCIB helps American industry navigate an increasingly complex global marketplace.

USCIB recently updated its Legal Issues Overview, which presents a number of key international policy issues with strong legal components as a reference for corporate counsel and other legal professionals.

“The objective of USCIB’s work,” Ms. Flick noted, “is to foster fair and predictable legal and regulatory regimes across borders to enhance seamless transactions across borders.”  Ms. Flick discussed how USCIB capitalizes on its extensive industry network to influence policy at both national and international institutions.  She then offered a selection of legal challenges that she confronts regularly in her work at USCIB, ranging from questions of jurisdiction and extraterritoriality to the adequacy of a country’s intellectual property regime and whether or not the U.S. notion of due process is respected in foreign jurisdictions in the course of a foreign enforcement action.

“Of particular interest to the general counsels was the realization that legal privilege as U.S. lawyers understand it – that communications between corporate executives and in-house lawyers are privileged and not discoverable — does not apply in all foreign jurisdictions,” Ms. Flick observed.  “The European Union, for example, does not accept this notion of legal privilege, and it is important for American companies to understand that communications internally across borders may be subject to different legal norms in the course of a foreign investigation, and how best to deal with this reality.”

Ms. Flick emphasized that advocacy should not be limited to the legislative bodies, but that influencing policy objectives should be approached on the executive and judicial fronts, as well.  She noted that as the markets globalize, policymakers will be forced to harmonize their own regulatory landscape with that of other countries to benefit their own economies.  “U.S. industry is global industry,” Ms. Flick concluded, “and it should insist upon being at the table where regulations and policies are conceived that will dictate global business.”   This, of course, is where USCIB really provides value to its members.

Staff contact: Helen Medina

USCIB Legal Issues Overview

More on USCIB’s Intellectual Property Committee

More on USCIB’s Competition Committee

BASCAP Launches New Initiatives in the Fight Against Fakes

Published on September 20, 2011

BASCAPSeveral years ago, in response to the growing threat to business from fake products, USCIB’s affiliate the International Chamber of Commerce launched BASCAP – Business Action to Stop Counterfeiting and Piracy, which seeks to connect all business sectors and cut across national borders in the fight against counterfeiting and piracy.  With senior-level representation from numerous affected companies, industries and countries, BASCAP’s efforts focus on raising awareness and working with governments, law enforcement and international organizations in a joint effort to combat global intellectual property theft.

During the most recent BASCAP steering committee meeting, September 15-16 in New York, BASCAP members discussed its new Pro-IP work stream, which concentrates on developing a strong set of materials to promote the positive aspects of IP protection and its relation to innovation, economic growth/development and employment.

One feature of the work stream is a new BASCAP-IP Blog, which will strengthen the body of public knowledge in the realm of IP protection and create an outlet for BASCAP pro-IP work, including existing products such as the BASCAP IP Powerhouse report and its economic studies. The blog is an online location for commenting on issues of the day and will replace the data-oriented BASCAP Digest, with editorial comment.

BASCAP is preparing a report debunking economic “IP fallacies” related to growth, R&D, employment, and FDI.   A number of interest groups have argued that counterfeiting and piracy are not associated with negative effects on society or the economy.  Among the key assertions put forward by these groups, some of which made their way into a recent paper by the UN’s World Intellectual Property Organization, are that counterfeiting and piracy create employment and provide income to workers, particularly in developing economies, and that counterfeiting and piracy provide competition for big business, spurring increased R&D spending and lower prices.

BASCAP also plans to add two annexes to its IP Guidelines for Business, which have thus far been launched in six languages.  The first annex will address government use of software, with the goal of ensuring that governments take action to prevent IPR infringements in their computer systems.   The second annex will focus on government procurement, i.e., what happens when governments themselves purchase counterfeit products in several sectors – transportation, medicines and medical supplies, electronics, software, and military and security supplies.

The steering committee also reviewed a scoping paper to address how IP-based businesses use various types of technical protection measures to deter counterfeiting and piracy, how these are or should be protected by regulation, and how the inherent limitations in such technologies militate against mandatory “one size fits all” solutions.

In the coming months, BASCAP plans to move forward with in-country initiatives in Turkey, Chile, Ukraine, Africa, China and India.  There are also several reports in the pipeline, including on free trade zones, digital piracy in the U.S., what to do with confiscated goods, and a study on the role of intermediaries in the supply chain.

More on USCIB’s Intellectual Property Committee

News Brief: The Costs of Counterfeiting

Published on February 4, 2011

A new ICC report predicts the cost of intellectual property rights abuses worldwide will reach $1.7 trillion by 2015 and put 2.5 million legitimate jobs at risk each year.  Launched at the 6th Global Congress on Combating Counterfeiting and Piracy, which took place in Paris in early February, the ICC report updates a groundbreaking 2008 OECD study that showed more than $250 billion in counterfeit and pirated goods move through international trade alone.  The revealing ICC study not only brings the estimates up to date but also examines additional impacts not quantified in the OECD report.  These include the value of domestically produced and consumed counterfeit products, the value of digital piracy, and the negative impacts on society, governments and consumers.

Staff contact: Caitlin Martin

More on ICC’s BASCAP (Business Action to Stop Counterfeiting and Piracy) initiative