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Recent Progress and Persistent Challenges in IP
An Update from the IP Commission
Remarks by Former Secretary Madeleine Albright
Read a transcript or watch video of remarks by Secretary Albright here.
Event Summary
On Monday, March 29, 2021, the Commission on the Theft of American Intellectual Property (IP Commission) convened a virtual event to discuss recent progress and persistent challenges in ensuring robust IP protections in the Indo-Pacific. This event followed the release of a memo to the Biden administration providing recommendations to ensure that IP protections better safeguard U.S. interests, deter IP theft, and continue to be regarded as a critical element of U.S. economic competitiveness and national security.
The event was hosted by the IP Commission chair Admiral Dennis Blair and co-chair emeritus Governor Jon Huntsman. Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright delivered keynote remarks. All three were heartened by the progress that has been made in recent years, both in recognizing the magnitude of IP challenges and in taking steps to better protect U.S. firms’ IP. But they also highlighted the importance of further strengthening IP protections, including by putting into place IP Commission recommendations that have not been fully implemented. They emphasized that changing the cost-benefit calculus of IP infringers through targeted actions is critical.
The event also featured two panels of experts discussing U.S. and regional policy toward IP. The first, featuring F. Scott Kieff (George Washington University) and Ambassador Robert Holleyman (Crowell and Moring), discussed the importance of U.S. legal actions to protect IP and the role of trade agreements in addressing IP protections in the digital era. The second, featuring Ambassador Ira Shapiro (Albright Stonebridge Group), Mark Cohen (Berkeley Center for Law and Technology), and Elaine Wu (USPTO), examined the state of IP protections in the region, including Japan’s approach to these issues and the status of U.S.-China bilateral work to improve IP protections.
Agenda
WELCOME REMARKS
Roy Kamphausen, President, The National Bureau of Asian Research
(Video)
Dennis C. Blair, IP Commission Chair, Knott Professor of the Practice at the University of North Carolina, former commander of the U.S. Pacific Command, and former U.S. Director of National Intelligence
Jon M. Huntsman, Jr., IP Commission Co-Chair Emeritus, former Ambassador of the United States to Russia, China, and Singapore, Governor of the State of Utah, and Deputy U.S. Trade Representative
PANEL DISCUSSION
(Video)
Moderator
Deborah Wince-Smith, President & CEO of the Council on Competitiveness
Panelists
Robert Holleyman, President and CEO, Crowell & Moring International, former Deputy U.S. Trade Representative
F. Scott Kieff, Professor, George Washington University Law School
KEYNOTE REMARKS
(Video)
Madeleine K. Albright, former U.S. Secretary of State, and Chair, Albright Stonebridge Group
PANEL DISCUSSION
(Video)
Moderator
Charles Boustany, Jr., Counselor, National Bureau of Asian Research, former six-term U.S. representative from Louisiana
Panelists
Mark Cohen, Distinguished Senior Fellow, University of California at Berkeley
Ira Shapiro, Senior Advisor, Albright Stonebridge Group, former USTR General Counsel and Chief U.S. Trade Negotiator with Japan and Canada
Elaine Wu, Principal Counsel and Director for China IP, Office of Policy & International Affairs
CONCLUDING REMARKS
Roy Kamphausen, President, The National Bureau of Asian Research
Related Publication
Read the IP Commission’s original 2013 report, 2017 report update, and 2021 Review.
The Commission on the Theft of American Intellectual Property (IP Commission) was launched in 2012 by the National Bureau of Asian Research (NBR) to track the scale and complexities of intellectual property (IP) theft, the driving forces behind it, and its consequences for the United States. Since its groundbreaking initial report in 2013, the IP Commission has met periodically to issue updates and new recommendations. Most recently, this included a memo to the Biden administration highlighting priority actions that should be immediately implemented to better safeguard U.S. IP and promote innovation in the United States.