让我们一起“奋力夺金” 
数千年来，挑战极限的欲望、竞争的刺激，以及看普通人取得卓越成绩而心生敬佩激发了我们对体育的热情。就在本月，19岁的中国篮球天才韩旭作为本年度入选WNBA(美国女子职业篮球联赛)最年轻的的球员登上头条。很多时候，体育已经跨越语言和文化障碍将人们联结起来，正如1970年初著名的“乒乓外交”为美国和中国重申外交关系创造了条件一样。
竞技体育还是一项价值数十亿美元的全球产业，为数百万人带来享受和健康的生活方式。同时，体育产业为制造业和服务业创造数百万就业机会。体育迷们可能没有意识到，这项产业以及所有国际商业，都要靠一个幕后维护者，那就是知识产权。
今年4月26日世界知识产权日以“奋力夺金”为主题，弘扬创造力、创新和知识产权在体育世界发挥的作用。保护知识产权才有可能让我们将竞争的激烈从竞技场带到世界各地的客厅里和手机上。对知识产权的有效保护支持着数十亿美元的体育周边商品产业。知识产权还让我们有更多新的方式来在场下从我们最喜爱的运动员和队伍身上获得享受，无论是通过画质逼真的游戏还是不断壮大的梦幻体育联盟。知识产权支撑着这些商业，扩展并增强我们从奇妙的体育世界中获得的享受。
有一些例子说明这何以奏效。韩旭的新篮球队和它的粉丝们期待着观看她上场比赛。在2017年，当上海的职业足球俱乐部签下了一位世界足球名将——巴西球员奥斯卡时，中国吸引了全世界的注意力。上百万的中国足球球迷欢呼雀跃，期待着欣赏球场上高水平的球技。要让韩旭步入美国的篮球赛场或者让奥斯卡踏上中国的足球赛场可行，只有球队能够通过体育赛事的广播或串流带来的收入以及队服的销售收回投资。在非官方移动应用上观看广播或者购买仿冒的体育装备威胁这样的交易、限制包括中国职业足球联赛在内的体育联赛的发展并且对就业造成威胁。同样的原则适用于世界各地的联赛，甚至是任何要求创新与创意的行业。
全世界面临着许多保护知识产权的挑战。非法机顶盒以及未经授权的网站对内容创造者、体育联赛以及选手构成威胁，并且破坏合法流媒体服务的发展。仿冒的体育商品欺骗消费者并剥夺合法企业开发创新产品所需的资金。在美国，有效的法律架构已经通过清晰的规则、强有力的执法机制和高额的罚款来遏制对知识产权的侵犯，从而在多年以来使得大规模、成功的体育产业成为可能。
特朗普总统寻求与中国一起工作，再平衡并推进美中经济关系，包括在知识产权领域。在我们努力为两支队伍——中国队和美国队——改善知识产权环境，并帮助把体育的惊心动魄带给两国上百万的粉丝的同时，让我们一起“奋力夺金” 。

Let’s “Reach for Gold” Together
The drive to test limits, the thrill of competition, and the awe of watching ordinary people achieving extraordinary feats have fueled our fascination with sports for thousands of years.  Just this month, 19-year-old Chinese basketball prodigy Han Xu made headlines as the youngest player selected in this year’s U.S. Women’s NBA draft.  Sports have often connected people across linguistic and cultural barriers, just as “ping pong” diplomacy famously did in the early 1970s to set the stage for renewed U.S.-China diplomatic ties.   
Competitive sports is also a multi-billion dollar global industry, bringing enjoyment and a healthier lifestyle to millions.  The sports industry also creates millions of manufacturing and service jobs.  What sports fans might not realize is that this industry, as with all international commerce, relies on a behind-the-scenes defender:  intellectual property rights.
This year’s World Intellectual Property Day on April 26 celebrates the role that creativity, innovation and intellectual property play in the world of sports, under the theme “Reach for Gold.”  Intellectual property protection makes it possible to bring the intensity of competition from the stadium to living rooms and mobile phones across the globe.  Effective protection of intellectual property supports the multi-billion dollar sports merchandise industry.  Intellectual Property also enhances new ways of enjoying our favorite athletes and teams after they leave the field, whether through photo-realistic video games or growing fantasy sports leagues.  Intellectual property rights underpin the businesses that expand and augment how we enjoy the wonderful world of sports.
A few examples show how this works.  Han Xu’s new basketball team, and its fans, look forward to watching her take the court.  In 2017, China drew the world’s attention when Shanghai’s professional soccer club recruited one of the world’s soccer greats, Brazil’s Oscar.  Millions of Chinese soccer fans cheered, looking forward to enjoying a higher caliber of soccer on the field.  Bringing Han Xu to America’s basketball court, or Oscar to China’s soccer pitch, is only feasible if the teams can recoup their investment through income from broadcasting or streaming sporting events and the sale of team apparel.  Watching broadcasts on unofficial mobile apps or purchasing counterfeit sports gear threatens such deals, limits the development of sporting leagues, including China’s professional soccer league, and threatens jobs.  The same principal applies to leagues around the world, and, indeed, in any industry requiring innovation and creativity.
The world faces a number of challenges in protecting intellectual property rights.  Illicit streaming devices and unauthorized websites pose a threat to content creators, sports leagues, and performers, and undermine the development of legitimate streaming services.  Counterfeit sporting goods deceive consumers and rob legitimate businesses of money needed to develop innovative products.  Effective legal structures in the United States have made possible a large, successful sports industry for years by deterring infringement of intellectual property rights through clear rules, robust enforcement mechanisms, and significant penalties.
President Trump seeks to work with China to rebalance and advance the U.S.-China economic relationship, including in the area of intellectual property rights.  Let’s “Reach for Gold” together as we work to improve the intellectual property environment for both teams—Chinese and American—and help bring the thrill of sports to millions of fans in both countries.