September 20, 2002
WIPO Enforcement Committee Proposal
The Honorable Marybeth Peters
Register of Copyrights
U.S. Copyright Office
101 Independence Avenue, S.E.
Washington, D.C. 20559
Dear Madame Register:
The U.S. Council for International Business (USCIB) wishes to submit its views concerning the proposal for the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) to establish a committee on enforcement, which will be considered next week by the WIPO General Assembly.
Enforcement is an essential concern to USCIB members, who operate businesses in a wide variety of industrial and commercial sectors overseas, and who lose billions of dollars -- and immeasurable amounts of consumer goodwill -- annually from counterfeiting and piracy. Therefore, USCIB supports the U.S. proposal, made last week at the WIPO Consultation Meeting on Enforcement, to establish a single permanent Committee on Enforcement that would address enforcement of industrial property rights and copyright and related rights. Such a Committee must be permanent, rather than merely advisory, in order to carry out its purpose. Moreover, USCIB agrees that there should be a focal point in the International Bureau responsible for the coordination of enforcement activities and ensure contacts with the Committee.
While we are mindful that there may be future items, such as the development of best practices, deserving consideration by this committee, its initial responsibility should be to integrate enforcement into the various training programs conducted by WIPO. Therefore, the Committee must have the authority necessary to ensure that such training is as practical as possible, is based on international standards of effective enforcement, is presented by those with substantial and direct experience in enforcement, and is targeted toward the audiences most in need, such as law enforcement and border control officials, state and private attorneys, and judicial authorities.
Moreover, the issues dealt with in the documents considered at the WIPO consultation meeting, namely "Existing Needs for Training and for Development of Enforcement Strategies" (WIPO/CME/2 Rev.) and "Synthesis of Issues Concerning Difficulties and Practices in the Field
of Enforcement" (WIPO/CME/3), must be taken into account in designing the development cooperation activities of WIPO.
In closing, USCIB appreciates this opportunity to express its views on this important topic and is prepared to lend assistance to the United States Government as appropriate.
Sincerely,
Thomas M.T. Niles
President
cc: The Honorable James E. Rogan
