PLAYING HARDBALL WITH SOFT IP LEGISLATION

Congress is considering legislation to bolster anti-piracy and
anti-counterfeiting laws by greatly increasing penalties in copyright and trademark cases, adding protection for unregistered works, and completely overhauling the structure of federal IP enforcement.

The bill, H.R. 4279, The Prioritizing Resources and Organization for Intellectual Property Act of 2007 (PRO IP Act), was introduced in December with bipartisan support and has a better than even chance of passage this year.

This measure likely provides the best chance that law makers will have in the next few years to update copyright and trademark enforcement. For our readers, we have prepared a brief overview of the legislation and its current status in Congress.

Please read it here.

DLA Piper’s Intellectual Property group offers clients end-to-end transactional and litigation IP services, assisting fast-growing companies offering new products and services and helping industry-leading companies develop, leverage, and protect their IP assets.

For more information about this proposed legislation, please contact:

John Allcock,
Global Co-Chair, Technology, Media and Commercial Group
Chair, US Intellectual Property Group

Ann Ford, Chair, Trademark, Copyright and Media Practice Group

Joseph Gioconda

Jim Halpert

Keith Medansky

Kevin O’Scannlain

Eugene Pak

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