U.S. Chamber Urges Congressional Action on Intellectual Property Plan

WASHINGTON, June 23, 2010 – An intellectual property expert from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce today on Capitol Hill commended the release of the first-ever government-wide national intellectual property enforcement strategy and urged congressional action to implement the plan.

Testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee, David Hirschmann, president and CEO of the chamber’s Global Intellectual Property Center, lauded the Office of the U.S. Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator for its new initiative.

“The release of this plan is a historic and necessary step toward improving the effectiveness and efficiency of federal IP enforcement,” Hirschmann told the senators. “But we also recognize that implementing it clearly presents a much greater challenge... We need to continue to build the capacity of the federal government to address the exponentially growing theft of intellectual property that threatens entire industries, hundreds of thousands of jobs and our innovation economy.”

Hirschmann called the strategy a “positive step” and encouraged the committee and others to “carefully examine this White House plan and thoughtfully consider what legislative action might be necessary.”

The U.S. Chamber is a lobbying group representing the interests of more than 3 million firms of all sizes. Its Global Intellectual Property Center champions intellectual property “as vital to creating jobs, saving lives, advancing global economic growth, and generating breakthrough solutions to global challenges.”