I 

108TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5117 

To establish in the Office of the United States Trade Representative an 

Assistant United States Trade Representative for Intellectual Property Rights. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 21, 2004 

Mr. SCHIFF (for himself, Mr. GOODLATTE, Mr. BECERRA, and Mr. FOLEY) 

introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 

Ways and Means 

A BILL 

To establish in the Office of the United States Trade Representative an Assistant United States Trade Representative for Intellectual Property Rights. 

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 ‘‘Fortifying America’s 

5 Intellectual Property Rights (FAIR) Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 The Congress finds as follows: 

8 (1) International markets are vital to intellec9 tual property industries in the United States, pro-
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1 viding a strong export base that sustains jobs in the 

2 United States. This sector of the United States 

3 economy is threatened due to widespread patent and 

4 trademark infringement and the unauthorized repro5 duction, distribution, and sale of copyrighted works 

6 created in the United States. 

7 (2) The United States is the world’s largest cre8 ator, producer, and exporter of copyrighted mate9 rials, accounting for more than 5 percent of the 

10 Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the United States 

11 and adding billions of dollars to the United States 

12 economy annually. 

13 (3) International markets are vital to creative 

14 industries in the United States, providing a strong 

15 export base that sustains jobs in the United States. 

16 This sector of the United States economy is threat17 ened due to widespread piracy—the unauthorized re18 production, distribution, and sale of works created in 

19 the United States. 

20 (4) Global piracy affecting the motion picture 

21 industry is estimated as amounting to 

22 $3,500,000,000 annually, not including illegal 

23 downloading. Globally, 2 in 5 music recordings are 

24 pirated copies, with annual world-wide sales of pirat25 ed music estimated at from $4,000,000,000 to 
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1 $5,000,000,000. The software industry estimates 

2 losses of more than $13,000,000,000 in 2002 due to 

3 worldwide piracy. 

4 (5) The United States Trade Representative 

5 (USTR) has been charged with identifying countries 

6 that deny adequate and effective protection of intel7 lectual property rights. The effective use of trade 

8 tools by the USTR, including the negotiation of bi9 lateral free trade agreements, serves an essential 

10 role in protecting abroad the intellectual property 

11 rights of United States persons. 

12 (6) The Office of the USTR has more than 20 

13 offices dedicated to specific areas of expertise, but 

14 does not include an office solely dedicated to the 

15 protection abroad of the intellectual property rights 

16 of United States persons. Currently, the Office of 

17 the Assistant United States Trade Representative 

18 for Services, Investment and Intellectual Property 

19 has a substantially large workload, given that serv20 ices and investment account for more than 50 per21 cent of the United States economy. 

22 (7) The USTR’s ability to meet its mandate to 

23 protect abroad the intellectual property rights of 

24 United States persons should be enhanced by estab25 lishing a separate office dedicated exclusively to in-
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1 tellectual property matters, headed by an Assistant 

2 United States Trade Representative for Intellectual 

3 Property Rights. The resources dedicated to secur4 ing high standards of protection in trade agreements 

5 and enforcing those provisions vigorously should 

6 likewise be enhanced. 

7 SEC. 3. ASSISTANT U.S. TRADE REPRESENTATIVE FOR IN8 TELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS. 

9 Section 141(c) of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 

10 2171(c)) is amended by adding at the end the following: 

11 ‘‘(6)(A) There shall be in the Office the position of 

12 Assistant United States Trade Representative for Intellec13 tual Property Rights. The Assistant United States Trade 

14 Representative for Intellectual Property Rights shall be 

15 appointed by the United States Trade Representative. 

16 ‘‘(B) The Assistant United States Trade Representa17 tive for Intellectual Property Rights shall have primary 

18 responsibility for— 

19 ‘‘(i) intellectual property matters relating to bi20 lateral and multilateral trade agreements, includ21 ing— 

22 ‘‘(I) enforcement of, and any modifications 

23 to, the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of 

24 Intellectual Property Rights referred to in sec-
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1 tion 101(d)(15) of the Uruguay Round Agree2 ments Act (19 U.S.C. 3511(d)(15)); and 

3 ‘‘(II) the negotiation and enforcement of 

4 intellectual property provisions of any other bi5 lateral or multilateral trade agreement to which 

6 the United States is a party; 

7 ‘‘(ii) the identification of countries under para8 graphs (1) and (2) of section 182(a) of the Trade 

9 Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2242(a)(1) and (2)), and 

10 any investigations under chapter 1 of title III of 

11 that Act (19 U.S.C. 2411 et seq.) arising from such 

12 identification or other actions of a foreign country 

13 described in section 182(a)(1) of that Act; and 

14 ‘‘(iii) monitoring the extent to which the trad15 ing partners of the United States protect and en16 force intellectual property rights of United States 

17 persons. 

18 ‘‘(C) At least 6 professional staff members shall be 

19 assigned to assist the Assistant United States Trade Rep20 resentative for Intellectual Property Rights in carrying out 

21 his or her functions, of which 3 shall be assigned to mat22 ters relating to enforcement. 

23 ‘‘(D) The Assistant United States Trade Representa24 tive should direct and coordinate all interagency activities, 

25 including in consultation with the Under Secretary of 
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1 Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the 

2 United States Patent and Trademark Office and the Reg3 ister of Copyrights, on trade-related intellectual property 

4 matters and serve as the primary contact in the executive 

5 branch for all matters described in subparagraph (B). 

6 ‘‘(E) The Assistant United States Trade Representa7 tive for Intellectual Property Rights shall receive com8 pensation at the rate of pay payable for level IV of the 

9 Executive Schedule under section 5315 of title 5, United 

10 States Code.’’. 

11 SEC. 4. CONSTRUCTION. 

12 Nothing in this Act or the amendment made by this 

13 Act shall be construed to limit the powers and duties of 

14 the United States Patent and Trademark Office or the 

15 United States Copyright Office. 

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