NAM Supports Forming Intellectual Property Pact

Washington, DC, October 23, 2007--The National Association of Manufacturers joined with U.S. Trade Representative Susan C. Schwab and members of the Congressional Caucus on Intellectual Property and Piracy Prevention in support of a new “plurilateral agreement” to advocate high standards for protection of intellectual property in the increasingly competitive global marketplace.

“This is a compelling idea that provides us a great opportunity to make real headway against the growing problem of international counterfeiting that is hurting so many U.S. manufacturers,” said Frank Vargo, NAM vice president for international economic policy.

“We commend Ambassador Schwab for finding an innovative approach to combat piracy of intellectual property and we’ll continue to work with her to address the issue,” he said.

“Likewise, the Japanese government deserves a great deal of credit for playing an early role in promoting a new initiative on intellectual property protection.”  

The proposed agreement calls for advanced economies that already share a strong commitment to protection of intellectual property rights (IPR) to establish common legal standards and enforcement practices and to expand international cooperation to stop counterfeiting and piracy. It is hoped that negotiation of “plurilateral agreement” among a small group of like-minded trading partners will proceed more quickly and productively than a global agreement with all WTO members.

“There is no question that piracy of intellectual property is out of control and undercutting U.S. competitiveness,” Vargo said. “Because the proposed agreement is consistent with existing law and no new legislation should be required, we expect to see rapid progress.”