Section 1 Short title
This Act may be cited as the “American IP Defense and Enforcement Advancement Act” or the “American IDEA Act”.
American IP Defense and Enforcement Advancement Act
A BILL
To reauthorize certain provisions of the Prioritizing Resources and Organization for Intellectual Property Act of 2008, to create a new grant program to fund legal aid programs to assist small businesses to protect intellectual property, and for other purposes.
Sec. 2 Amendments
The Prioritizing Resources and Organization for Intellectual Property Act of 2008 (Public Law 110–403; 122 Stat. 4265) is amended—
in section 3 (15 U.S.C. 8101)—
in the section heading, by striking “Definition” and inserting “Definitions”;
by redesignating paragraphs (1), (2), and (3) as subparagraphs (A), (B), and (C), respectively, and adjusting the margins accordingly;
by moving the undesignated matter following subparagraph (C) (as so redesignated) 2 ems to the right;
in the undesignated matter following subparagraph (C) (as so redesignated), by striking “paragraph (1), (2), or (3)” and inserting “subparagraph (A), (B), or (C)”;
by striking “In this Act, the term “United States person” means—” and inserting the following: “In this Act:
“(1) Priority watch list country—The term priority watch list country means a country on the priority watch list (as defined in section 182(g)(3) of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2242(g)(3)) (commonly known as the “Special 301 Priority Watch List”).
“(2) United States person—The term United States person means—”
by adding at the end the following:
“(3) Watch list country—The term watch list country—
“(A) means a country identified by the United States Trade Representative pursuant to section 182(a) of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2242(a)); and
“(B) includes a priority watch list country.”
in section 303(a) (15 U.S.C. 8113(a))—
by redesignating paragraph (6) as paragraph (7); and
by inserting after paragraph (5) the following:
“(6) Preventing unlawful taking or use of intellectual property from corporations and universities located in the United States, particularly by entities or individuals located in a priority watch list country.”
in section 304(b) (15 U.S.C. 8114(b)), by adding at the end the following:
“(12) Strategies to prevent unlawful taking or use of intellectual property by entities or individuals located in priority watch list countries.”
in section 401(b) (34 U.S.C. 30103(b))—
in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by striking “‘IP–TIC grants’” and inserting ““Intellectual Property Enforcement Program grants” or “IPEP grants””;
in paragraph (1)—
in the heading, by striking “IP–TIC” and inserting “Intellectual Property Enforcement Program”;
in the matter preceding subparagraph (A), by striking “IP–TIC” and inserting “IPEP”; and
by adding at the end the following:
“(G) Facilitate coordination between State and local law enforcement officers and prosecutors and Federal law enforcement agencies in the enforcement of Federal criminal intellectual property laws.”
in paragraph (2)—
in the matter preceding subparagraph (A), by striking “IP–TIC” and inserting “IPEP”; and
in subparagraph (C), by striking “(42 U.S.C. 3750 et seq.)” and inserting “(34 U.S.C. 10151 et seq.)”;
by striking paragraph (3) and inserting the following:
“(3) Matching funds
“(A) In general—The Federal share of an IPEP grant may not exceed—
“(i) except as provided in clause (ii), 50 percent of the costs of the program or proposal funded by the IPEP grant; or
“(ii) 60 percent of the costs of the program or proposal funded by the IPEP grant in the case of a program or proposal that includes a focus on investigating and prosecuting intellectual property violations that involve—
“(I) individuals or entities located in a watch list country;
“(II) individuals or entities operating under the direction or influence of individuals or entities located in a watch list country; or
“(III) the import of products or components from a watch list country.
“(B) Other violations—The recipient of an IPEP grant with a Federal share described in subparagraph (A)(ii) may use the grant to investigate or prosecute an intellectual property violation that involves individuals, entities, products, or components not described in subclause (I), (II), or (III) (as applicable) of that subparagraph if the recipient discovered the intellectual property violation during the course of investigating or prosecuting an intellectual property violation that involves an individual, entity, product, or component described in one of those subclauses.”
in paragraph (4)(A), by inserting “and 2024 through 2029” after “2009 through 2013”; and
in section 402(a)(4)(A) (34 U.S.C. 30104(a)(4)(A)), by inserting “, including crimes perpetrated by entities located in priority watch list countries” after “intellectual property crimes”.
Sec. 3 GAO study on protection of intellectual property of manufacturers from priority watch list countries
Study— The Comptroller General of the United States shall study how the Federal Government could better protect the intellectual property of manufacturers from priority watch list countries, as defined in section 3 of the Prioritizing Resources and Organization for Intellectual Property Act of 2008 (15 U.S.C. 8101) (as amended by section 2).
Report— Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General shall submit to Congress a report on the results of the study required under subsection (a).
Sec. 4 GAO study on diplomatic opportunities for intellectual property enforcement and capacity building for watch list countries
Study— The Comptroller General of the United States shall study whether the Federal Government could use diplomatic and trade channels to—
improve the capacity of a watch list country, as defined in section 3 of the Prioritizing Resources and Organization for Intellectual Property Act of 2008 (15 U.S.C. 8101) (as amended by section 2), to adequately and effectively protect the intellectual property rights of individuals, universities, and entities located in a watch list country or in the United States; and
recover from a priority watch list country, as defined in section 3 of the Prioritizing Resources and Organization for Intellectual Property Act of 2008 (15 U.S.C. 8101) (as amended by section 2), any unrecouped financial losses suffered by individuals, universities, and entities located primarily in the United States resulting from the unlawful use of intellectual property by a priority watch list country or an individual or entity operating under the direction or influence of the priority watch list country, if the losses were suffered due to a denial of adequate and effective protection of intellectual property rights by the priority watch list country.
Report— Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General shall submit to Congress a report on the results of the study required under subsection (a).
Sec. 5 Intellectual property protection legal aid
Definitions— In this section:
Eligible entity— The term eligible entity means—
a law school that is accredited by the American Bar Association;
the bar association of a State;
a legal services organization; or
a nonprofit organization or State agency, in partnership with an entity described in subparagraph (A), (B), or (C).
Low-revenue small business— The term low-revenue small business means a small business with an estimated annual revenue of not more than $150,000.
Small business— The term small business means a small business concern, as that term is defined in section 3 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 632).
State— The term State means a State, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and any territory or possession of the United States.
Grant program— From amounts made available to carry out this section, the Attorney General shall make grants to eligible entities to fund—
legal aid programs to provide no-cost or low-cost legal advice and services to low-revenue small businesses relating to the protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights; and
the development and delivery of training programs and materials for small businesses relating to the protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights.
Authorization of appropriations— There is authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be necessary to carry out this section.