Foreign Counterfeit Merchandise Prevention Act - Amends the federal criminal code to provide that it shall not be a violation of the prohibition against a federal employee disclosing trade secrets or other confidential or proprietary information for an officer or employee of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP): (1) at the time that merchandise is presented for examination and thereafter, to provide the owner of a copyright or a registered mark or any person who may be injured by a circumvention of copyright protection systems with any information appearing on the merchandise, including its retail packaging, or a sample or image of such merchandise and its retail packaging, for the purposes of determining whether the merchandise or its packaging infringes the copyright, bears or consists of a counterfeit mark of the registered mark, or is a violation of copyright protection systems; or (2) after seizing merchandise determined to be in violation of copyright protection systems, to provide certain information to persons injured by such violation, including the date of importation, the port of entry, a description of the merchandise, the country of origin of the merchandise, the names and addresses of the foreign manufacturer, the exporter, and the importer, and a photographic or digital image of the merchandise.
Applies such exemption only with respect to tangible goods presented to the CBP for importation into, or exportation from, the United States.
Amends the Lanham Act to direct the Secretary of Homeland Security (DHS) (the Secretary) to record and transmit to customs officers any contact information, documentation of the locality in which goods were manufactured, and copies of trademark registrations furnished by domestic or eligible foreign manufacturers or traders for the purpose of aiding the enforcement of a prohibition on the importation of goods bearing infringing marks or names. (Currently, such activities are performed by the Secretary of the Treasury.)
Requires the Secretary, if the CBP detains critical merchandise bearing a DHS-recorded registered trademark, to provide the trademark owner any information on such critical merchandise and its packaging and labels, including, without redaction, photographs or digital images, packaging, and labels. Permits the Secretary, subject to any bonding and return requirements, to provide the owner samples of the critical merchandise without redaction.
Defines "critical merchandise" to include: (1) aircraft engines, appliances, propellers, and spare parts; (2) children's sleepwear, cosmetics, devices, drugs, food, motor vehicle equipment, pesticide chemicals, semiconductors, and tobacco products; (3) items on the U.S. Munitions List established under specified provisions of the Arms Export Control Act; and (4) any other article of manufacture that the Secretary determines could, if permitted entry into the United States in violation of the U.S. laws, pose a danger to the health, safety, or welfare of consumers, or to the national security of the United States.
Applies such Lanham Act amendments only with respect to tangible goods presented to the CBP for importation into the United States.
[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6654 Introduced in House (IH)]
112th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 6654
To provide for the exchange of information related to trade
enforcement, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
December 13, 2012
Mr. Poe of Texas (for himself, Mr. Chabot, Ms. Zoe Lofgren of
California, and Ms. Linda T. Sanchez of California) 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.
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 ``Foreign Counterfeit Merchandise
Prevention Act''.
SEC. 2. EXCHANGE OF INFORMATION RELATED TO TRADE ENFORCEMENT.
Section 1905 of title 18, United States Code, is amended--
(1) by striking ``Whoever'' and inserting ``(a) In
General.--Whoever''; and
(2) by adding at the end the following:
``(b) Provision of Information Relating to Merchandise Presented to
Customs.--It shall not be a violation of this section for an officer or
employee of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, at the time that
merchandise is presented for examination and thereafter, to provide to
the owner of a copyright or a registered mark, or to any person who may
be injured by a violation of section 1201 of title 17--
``(1) any information appearing on the merchandise,
including its retail packaging,
``(2) a sample of the merchandise and its retail packaging,
or
``(3) digital images of the merchandise and its retail
packaging,
as it was presented to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, without
redaction, whether imported into or exported from the United States, or
attempted to be exported from the United States, for purposes of
determining whether the merchandise or its retail packaging infringes
the copyright, bears or consists of a counterfeit mark of the
registered mark, or is in violation of section 1201 of title 17, as the
case may be.
``(c) Provision of Information Relating to Seized Merchandise.--It
shall not be a violation of this section for an officer or employee of
U.S. Customs and Border Protection, after seizing merchandise pursuant
to a determination that the merchandise is in violation of section 1201
of title 17, to provide, to persons injured by the violation,
information with respect to the merchandise, including, but not limited
to, the following:
``(1) The date of importation.
``(2) The port of entry.
``(3) The description of the merchandise from the entry.
``(4) The quantity involved.
``(5) The country of origin of the merchandise.
``(6) The name and address of the foreign manufacturer.
``(7) The name and address of the exporter.
``(8) The name and address of the importer.
``(9) Photographic or digital images of the merchandise.
``(d) Definitions.--As used in this section--
``(1) the term `registered mark' has the meaning given that
term in section 45 of the Lanham Act (15 U.S.C. 1127);
``(2) the term `Lanham Act' has the meaning given that term
in section 2320(e) of this title;
``(3) the term `counterfeit mark' has the meaning given
that term in section 2320(e) of this title; and
``(4) the term `without redaction' means, with respect to
merchandise, without removing, revising, or otherwise obscuring
any information, codes, marks, numbers, or any other markings
that appear on the merchandise or its retail packaging.
``(e) Rule of Construction.--Subsections (b), (c), and (d) apply
only with respect to tangible goods presented to U.S. Customs and
Border Protection for importation into, or exportation from, the United
States.''.
SEC. 3. PREVENTION OF IMPORTATION OF MANUFACTURED GOODS BEARING
INFRINGING MARKS.
(a) In General.--Section 42 of the Lanham Act (15 U.S.C. 1124), is
amended--
(1) in the first sentence, by striking ``Except as'' and
inserting ``(a) In General.--Except as'';
(2) by striking ``of the Treasury'' each place it appears
and inserting ``of Homeland Security''; and
(3) by adding at the end the following:
``(b) Detention of Critical Merchandise.--With respect to critical
merchandise that bears a registered trademark recorded under subsection
(a), if U.S. Customs and Border Protection detains the merchandise
because the merchandise is suspected of bearing a counterfeit mark,
then, upon such detention, the Secretary--
``(1) shall provide to the owner of the registered
trademark any information on the critical merchandise and its
packaging and labels, including, without redaction, photographs
or digital images of the critical merchandise, packaging, and
labels; and
``(2) may, at any time, subject to any applicable bonding
and return requirements, provide to the owner of the registered
trademark samples of the critical merchandise, without
redaction.
``(c) Definitions.--In this section:
``(1) Critical merchandise.--
``(A) In general.--The term `critical merchandise'
includes--
``(i) aircraft engines, appliances,
propellers, and spare parts;
``(ii) children's sleepwear;
``(iii) cosmetics;
``(iv) devices;
``(v) drugs;
``(vi) food;
``(vii) motor vehicle equipment;
``(viii) pesticide chemicals;
``(ix) semiconductors;
``(x) tobacco products;
``(xi) any item on the United States
Munitions List established under section 38(a)
of the Arms Export Control Act (22 U.S.C.
2778(a)); and
``(xii) any other article of manufacture
that the Secretary determines could, if
permitted entry into the United States in
violation of the laws of the United States pose
a danger to the health, safety, or welfare of
consumers, or to the national security of the
United States.
``(B) Other definitions.--For purposes of
subparagraph (A)--
``(i) the terms `aircraft engine',
`appliance', `propeller', and `spare part' have
the meanings given those terms in section
40102(a) of title 49, United States Code;
``(ii) the term `children's sleepwear' has
the meaning given that term in sections 1615.1
and 1616.2 of title 16, Code of Federal
Regulations, or successor regulations;
``(iii) the terms `cosmetic', `device',
`drug', `food', `pesticide chemical', and
`tobacco product' have the meanings given those
terms in section 201 of the Federal Food, Drug,
and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 321);
``(iv) the term `motor vehicle equipment'
has the meaning given that term in section
30102(a) of title 49, United States Code; and
``(v) the term `semiconductor' means
`semiconductor chip product' as defined in
section 901 of title 17.
``(2) Secretary.--The term `Secretary' means the Secretary
of Homeland Security.
``(3) Without redaction.--The term `without redaction'
means, with respect to merchandise, without removing, revising,
or otherwise obscuring any information, codes, marks, numbers,
or any other markings that appear on the merchandise or its
retail packaging.
``(d) Rule of Construction.--This section applies only with respect
to tangible goods presented to U.S. Customs and Border Protection for
importation into the United States.''.
(b) Definition.--In this section, the term ``Lanham Act'' means the
Act entitled ``An Act to provide for the registration and protection of
trademarks used in commerce, to carry out the provisions of certain
international conventions, and for other purposes'', approved July 5,
1946 (15 U.S.C. 1051 et seq.).
(c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall take
effect upon the expiration of the 60-day period beginning on the date
of the enactment of this Act.
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.
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