I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 236 

To provide for the exchange of information related to trade enforcement, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 9, 2015 

Mr. POE of Texas (for himself, Ms. LOFGREN, Mr. FARENTHOLD, and Mr. 

CHABOT) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To provide for the exchange of information related to trade 

enforcement, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Foreign Counterfeit 

5 Merchandise Prevention Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. EXCHANGE OF INFORMATION RELATED TO TRADE 

7 ENFORCEMENT. 

8 Section 1905 of title 18, United States Code, is 

9 amended— 


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1 (1) by striking ‘‘Whoever’’ and inserting ‘‘(a) 

2 IN GENERAL.—Whoever’’; and 

3 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

4 ‘‘(b) PROVISION OF INFORMATION RELATING TO

5 MERCHANDISE PRESENTED TO CUSTOMS.—It shall not be 

6 a violation of this section for an officer or employee of 

7 U.S. Customs and Border Protection, upon detention and 

8 thereafter, to provide to the owner of a copyright or a reg9 istered mark, or to any person who may be injured by a 

10 violation of section 1201 of title 17— 

11 ‘‘(1) any information appearing on the mer12 chandise, including its retail packaging, 

13 ‘‘(2) a sample of the merchandise and its retail 

14 packaging, or 

15 ‘‘(3) digital images of the merchandise and its 

16 retail packaging, 

17 as it was presented to U.S. Customs and Border Protec18 tion, without redaction, whether imported into or exported 

19 from the United States, or attempted to be exported from 

20 the United States, for purposes of determining whether 

21 the merchandise or its retail packaging infringes the copy22 right, bears or consists of a counterfeit mark of the reg23 istered mark, or is in violation of section 1201 of title 17, 

24 as the case may be. 


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1 ‘‘(c) PROVISION OF INFORMATION RELATING TO

2 SEIZED MERCHANDISE.—It shall not be a violation of this 

3 section for an officer or employee of U.S. Customs and 

4 Border Protection, after seizing merchandise pursuant to 

5 a determination that the merchandise is in violation of sec6 tion 1201 of title 17, to provide, to persons injured by 

7 the violation, information with respect to the merchandise, 

8 including, but not limited to, the following: 

9 ‘‘(1) The date of importation. 

10 ‘‘(2) The port of entry. 

11 ‘‘(3) The description of the merchandise from 

12 the entry. 

13 ‘‘(4) The quantity involved. 

14 ‘‘(5) The country of origin of the merchandise. 

15 ‘‘(6) The name and address of the foreign man16 ufacturer. 

17 ‘‘(7) The name and address of the exporter. 

18 ‘‘(8) The name and address of the importer. 

19 ‘‘(9) Photographic or digital images of the mer20 chandise. 

21 ‘‘(d) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section— 

22 ‘‘(1) the term ‘registered mark’ has the mean23 ing given that term in section 45 of the Lanham Act 

24 (15 U.S.C. 1127); 


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1 ‘‘(2) the term ‘Lanham Act’ has the meaning 

2 given that term in section 2320(f) of this title; 

3 ‘‘(3) the term ‘counterfeit mark’ has the mean4 ing given that term in section 2320(f) of this title; 

5 and 

6 ‘‘(4) the term ‘without redaction’ means, with 

7 respect to merchandise, without removing, revising, 

8 or otherwise obscuring any information, codes, 

9 marks, numbers, or any other markings that appear 

10 on the merchandise or its retail packaging. 

11 ‘‘(e) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Subsections (b), (c), 

12 and (d) apply only with respect to tangible goods pre13 sented to U.S. Customs and Border Protection for impor14 tation into, or exportation from, the United States.’’. 

15 SEC. 3. PREVENTION OF IMPORTATION OF MANUFAC16 TURED GOODS BEARING INFRINGING MARKS. 

17 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 42 of the Lanham Act (15 

18 U.S.C. 1124), is amended— 

19 (1) in the first sentence, by striking ‘‘Except 

20 as’’ and inserting ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Except as’’; 

21 (2) by striking ‘‘of the Treasury’’ each place it 

22 appears and inserting ‘‘of Homeland Security’’; and 

23 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

24 ‘‘(b) DETENTION OF CRITICAL MERCHANDISE.— 

25 With respect to critical merchandise that bears a regVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:53 Jan 15, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H236.IH H236

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1 istered trademark recorded under subsection (a), if U.S. 

2 Customs and Border Protection detains the merchandise 

3 because the merchandise is suspected of bearing a coun4 terfeit mark, then, upon such detention, the Secretary— 

5 ‘‘(1) shall provide to the owner of the registered 

6 trademark any information on the critical merchan7 dise and its packaging and labels, including, without 

8 redaction, photographs or digital images of the crit9 ical merchandise, packaging, and labels; and 

10 ‘‘(2) may, at any time, subject to any applicable 

11 bonding and return requirements, provide to the 

12 owner of the registered trademark samples of the 

13 critical merchandise, without redaction. 

14 ‘‘(c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

15 ‘‘(1) CRITICAL MERCHANDISE.— 

16 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘critical 

17 merchandise’ includes— 

18 ‘‘(i) aircraft engines, appliances, pro19 pellers, and spare parts; 

20 ‘‘(ii) motor vehicle equipment; 

21 ‘‘(iii) semiconductors; and 

22 ‘‘(iv) any other article of manufacture 

23 that the Secretary determines could, if per24 mitted entry into the United States in vio25 lation of the laws of the United States pose 


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1 a danger to the health, safety, or welfare 

2 of consumers, or to the national security of 

3 the United States. 

4 ‘‘(B) OTHER DEFINITIONS.—For purposes 

5 of subparagraph (A)— 

6 ‘‘(i) the terms ‘aircraft engine’, ‘appli7 ance’, ‘propeller’, and ‘spare part’ have the 

8 meanings given those terms in section 

9 40102(a) of title 49, United States Code; 

10 ‘‘(ii) the term ‘motor vehicle equip11 ment’ has the meaning given that term in 

12 section 30102(a) of title 49, United States 

13 Code; and 

14 ‘‘(iii) the term ‘semiconductor’ means 

15 ‘semiconductor chip product’ as defined in 

16 section 901 of title 17, United States 

17 Code. 

18 ‘‘(2) SECRETARY.—The term ‘Secretary’ means 

19 the Secretary of Homeland Security. 

20 ‘‘(3) WITHOUT REDACTION.—The term ‘without 

21 redaction’ means, with respect to merchandise, with22 out removing, revising, or otherwise obscuring any 

23 information, codes, marks, numbers, or any other 

24 markings that appear on the merchandise or its re25 tail packaging. 


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1 ‘‘(d) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—This section applies 

2 only with respect to tangible goods presented to U.S. Cus3 toms and Border Protection for importation into the 

4 United States.’’. 

5 (b) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘‘Lanham 

6 Act’’ means the Act entitled ‘‘An Act to provide for the 

7 registration and protection of trademarks used in com8 merce, to carry out the provisions of certain international 

9 conventions, and for other purposes’’, approved July 5, 

10 1946 (15 U.S.C. 1051 et seq.). 

11 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

12 this section shall take effect upon the expiration of the 

13 60-day period beginning on the date of the enactment of 

14 this Act. 

Æ 


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