International Trade

Strengthening Trade Law Protection of Intellectual Property Rights Gao ID: NSIAD-86-150 August 13, 1986

GAO recommended ways to strengthen section 337 of the Tariff Act as a means for U.S. firms to protect their intellectual property rights against counterfeit and infringing imports.

GAO believes that, in order for section 337 to be more effective, Congress needs to: (1) increase access to section 337 relief by eliminating or redefining the statutory criteria for obtaining relief; (2) direct the International Trade Commission (ITC) to speed relief when complainants need expedited government assistance and when no respondents participate in the proceedings; (3) clarify ITC authority to issue both exclusion orders and cease-and-desist orders to remedy the same unfair trade practice; and (4) strengthen the U.S. Customs Service's ability to enforce section 337 exclusion orders.

Recommendations

Our recommendations from this work are listed below with a Contact for more information. Status will change from "In process" to "Open," "Closed - implemented," or "Closed - not implemented" based on our follow up work.

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