Intellectual Property Violators Accountability and Transparency Act

To provide for the establishment of an interagency working group to combat the theft of United States intellectual property, and for other purposes. 1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Intellectual Property Violators Accountability and Transparency Act 2. Sense of Congress It is the sense of Congress that— (1) the United States global leadership position has benefitted immeasurably from the public and private sector’s unparalleled track record of fostering an environment capable of marshaling capital, developing new technologies, and producing new innovations; (2) the changing nature of the world economy, with ever more globalization and increasing returns to scale on new technologies, has made it more important than ever to stay on the cutting edge of the technological frontier; (3) the People’s Republic of China continues to be a leading violator of intellectual property rights in the world as documented by the United States Trade Representative’s 2021 Special 301 Report, and estimates place the cost of intellectual property theft by China of between $200 and $600 billion per year; (4) the growing scope of research dollars per innovative discovery make the harms and costs of intellectual property theft more acute now than any time in history; (5) the importance of protecting the intellectual property of United States technology and telecommunications firms is of paramount importance to the dynamism and resilience of the United States economy and the preservation of United States national security; and (6) United States national security is threatened by widespread intellectual property theft, and it is crucial that the United States Government, in coordination with the private sector, act to curtail thieves of American ingenuity. 3. Working group on United States intellectual property protection (a) Establishment Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the President shall establish an interagency working group— (1) to combat the theft of United States intellectual property; and (2) examine how the tools and levers of foreign policy, including the use of existing authorities, can be used to protect United States intellectual property. (b) Membership; chairperson The interagency working group established pursuant to subsection (a) shall— (1) be composed of the head or designee of each Federal department or agency that the President determines to be appropriate; and (2) be chaired by the Secretary of State or the Secretary’s designee. 4. Report (a) In general Not later than one year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State, in consultation with the interagency working group established pursuant to section 3(a), shall submit to the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate a report that includes the following: (1) An identification of major foreign state-influenced or state-owned enterprises that the Secretary credibly determines have engaged in or benefitted from significant acts or series of acts of intellectual property theft against United States persons. (2) An identification of the markets in which such foreign enterprises sell products or services that incorporate or are derived from stolen United States intellectual property. (3) A determination of whether the actions taken by such foreign enterprises have resulted in enforcement actions, and if they have not, an analysis of whether there are gaps in the enforcement framework or other rationale for the lack of enforcement actions in these cases. (4) Any proposed new authorities Congress could provide to the President to combat intellectual property theft by such foreign enterprises. (b) Form The report required by subsection (a) shall be submitted in unclassified form, but may include a classified annex.

Summary: Intellectual Property Violators Accountability and Transparency Act This bill requires the President to establish an interagency working group to combat the theft of U.S. intellectual property and examine ways to use foreign policy to protect U.S. intellectual property. The Department of State must, in consultation with the working group, report to Congress on issues related to the theft of U.S. intellectual property, including (1) any major foreign state-owned or state-influenced enterprises that have engaged in or benefited from such theft, and (2) authorities that Congress could provide to the President to combat such theft.