Intellectual Property Violators Accountability and Transparency Act
Bill: H.R.5635 | Sponsor: Rep. Houlahan, Chrissy (D-PA)
Policy area: Commerce

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.

To provide for the establishment of an interagency working group to 
combat the theft of United States intellectual property, and for other 
                               purposes.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Intellectual Property Violators 
Accountability and Transparency Act''.

SEC. 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.

SEC. 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.

SEC. 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.
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