NEW YORK - The International Trademark Association (INTA) congratulated Senator Charles “Chuck” Grassley (R-IA), Senator Chris Coons (D-DE), Representative John Ratcliffe (R-TX), and Representative Ted Deutch (D-FL) in announcing the relaunch of the bicameral, bipartisan Congressional Trademark Caucus (CTC) in the 115th Congress. Representatives Ratcliffe and Deutch join founding Co-Chairs Senators Grassley and Coons as the new CTC Co-Chairs in the US House of Representatives.
INTA strongly supports the dedicated efforts of the CTC Co-Chairs to join private sector, consumer, and government agency stakeholders around important trademark issues that impact consumers, brand owners (including small and medium-sized businesses), and the economy in general.
The CTC was relaunched on April 25, 2017, during a week of domestic and international focus on the impact of intellectual property (IP) on innovation, economies, and consumers worldwide. The proceedings, which centered around World IP Day on April 26, 2017, included the US Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing on “Intellectual Property—Driver of Innovation: Making Our Lives Healthier, Safer, and more Productive,” and a program called “Innovation—Improving Lives” held at the US Patent and Trademark Office and on Capitol Hill. Both World IP Day events featured INTA President Joe Ferretti (PepsiCo, Inc.), whose remarks emphasized the central role that trademarks and brands play when it comes to IP innovation.
While World IP Day celebrated the positive impact of IP on improving the lives of all consumers, it also provided the opportunity to focus all stakeholders on the need for increased consumer education and awareness associated with efforts to combat pervasive counterfeiting and IP theft.
“Of particular importance is the Congressional Trademark Caucus’s commitment to further educate Congress across the Congressional committee spectrum about the global threat of trademark counterfeiting and its negative impact on consumer health and safety, global economic growth and national security, particularly in light of the growing pervasiveness of trademark counterfeiting on the Internet and other e-commerce platforms,” said Mr. Ferretti.
“Purchasing fake and potentially unsafe products can be dangerous to consumers and harmful to entrepreneurs. The Congressional Trademark Caucus can help educate members of Congress, as well our constituents, about the valuable role trademarks play in the global marketplace. The Caucus will focus on a number of initiatives that will increase awareness and foster a productive public dialogue about the importance of trademarks and the risks associated with counterfeit goods,” Senator Grassley said.
“Not only are trademarks critical for companies’ ability to grow and create jobs, but they also play an important role in communicating the authenticity and integrity of products and services to customers. Counterfeit products with fake trademarks can be unsafe versions of the real thing whose sales may fund criminal networks. The Congressional Trademark Caucus will work hard in both the House and the Senate to bring attention to the need to protect trademarks and guard against the harms caused by intellectual property theft,” Senator Coons said.
“I look forward to working with my co-chairs on the Congressional Trademark Caucus to shed light on the important role trademarks play in protecting the health and safety of American families. As a former US Attorney and terrorism prosecutor, I’m also interested in raising awareness in Congress about links between counterfeits and organized crime and terrorist organizations,” Representative Ratcliffe said.
“Trademarks are the lifeblood of businesses, and I am glad to serve as co-chair of the Congressional Trademark Caucus to educate and protect them. Counterfeit products can be dangerous to consumers and destructive to small and growing businesses trying to expand globally,” said Representative Deutch.
According to the 2017 report “The Economic Impacts of Counterfeiting and Piracy,” commissioned by INTA and the International Chamber of Commerce Business Action to Stop Online Counterfeiting and Piracy (ICC-BASCAP), it is estimated that illegal trade in counterfeit products will reach an estimated US $991 billion by 2022, which is a substantial increase over the US $461 billion figure the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) projected and attributed to the underground counterfeit economy in 2013.
As evidenced by the INTA and ICC-BASCAP joint study, the economic impact of trademark counterfeiting creates an enormous strain on the economy—depriving it of billions of dollars in legitimate economic activity. Specifically, counterfeiting deprives the government of revenues for vital public services, forces higher tax burdens on taxpayers, dislocates hundreds of thousands of legitimate jobs, and exposes consumers to dangerous and ineffective products.
Source: http://www.inta.org/Press/Pages/CTC_Relaunch_May17.aspx
