Is It Real? Not!
Counterfeiting is where the big money is, says The Economist (subscription required). The OECD makes a rough guess that international trade in counterfeit goods reached $250 billion in 2007. Of course, it is tough to measure illegal activities since the perpetrators are understandably reluctant to release their numbers. $600 billion is the guess of the International Anti-Counterfeiting Coalition, adding that pirated goods may make up to 7% of world trade. MarkMonitor says that, this year, there will be $135 billion in Internet sales of counterfeit goods. Most anything has been counterfeited: weapons parts, electronic components, parts or aircraft engines, fake gold bars – even your birth control pills. It’s not just Rolex and Levis anymore, but potentially life-threatening stuff.
Can you tell if it's real?
Japan and the United States launched negotiations four years ago for an Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA). ACTA still hasn’t seen the light of day, not surprising when multiple governments and innumerable companies and NGOs are involved in the talks. The problems of commercial counterfeiting and intellectual property piracy remain huge and may prove intractable. While stealing someone’s ideas seem heinous in some societies, others see it as merely ingenious innovation. Still, without adequate protection, companies are going to be very reluctant to invest in new technologies or (at least) to tell anybody about it.
Some say that existing protection (patent laws, etc.) is adequate, while others (usually holders whose patents are nearing expiration) lament that their IP can’t be protected longer. Pharma companies, for instance, want to reap the benefits of their research, while NGOs want to get the benefits of new drugs out to everybody quickly. Without the first, you don’t get the new drugs, but how much protection is enough? You can see why this is a tough one to negotiate.
That said, progress is being made on ACTA and there may be an agreement by the end of the year. Talks have grown to include Australia, Canada, the 27 members of the European Union, Mexico, Morocco, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea, and Switzerland. Negotiations get tougher with each addition, but please note how few of the world’s more rampant counterfeiters have come to the table. The group just met in Guadalajara in late January to talk about civil enforcement, border measures and enforcement of IPR in a digital environment. Other elements of a draft ACTA include criminal enforcement, and cross-border cooperation on IPR protection. The objective is to get something like similar legal regimes among the participating countries.
The Global Intellectual Property Center, under the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, is looking for U.S. companies to help them build support for an ACTA in Washington. GIPC is getting ready to send a letter to Ambassador Ron Kirk, the U.S. Trade Representative, expressing strong support for a robust ACTA. The letter will serve the double purpose (this is according to me, not the U.S. Chamber) of stimulating interest and support among Washington’s political legions. Ambassador Kirk says he wants to get a strong ACTA, but thus far it is difficult to differentiate what is rhetoric and what is real in the Obama Administration’s trade policies. If you work for a U.S. company that would like to give Kirk some backbone on IPR issues, then please get in touch with Corbin Blackford at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
