USTDA Sector Brief - Intellectual Property Rights

USTDA advances economic development and U.S. commercial interests in developing and middle-income countries. The agency funds various forms of technical assistance, early investment analysis, training, orientation visits and business workshops that support the development of a modern infrastructure and a fair and open trading environment. USTDA's strategic use of foreign assistance funds to support sound investment policy and decision-making in host countries creates an enabling environment for trade, investment and sustainable economic development.

In the area of intellectual property rights (IPR), USTDA works to strengthen legislation and assist in the improvement of anti-counterfeiting and anti-piracy efforts through shared best practices, training and technical assistance.

The following is an illustrative list of such projects that USTDA has recently supported:

East Asia

China: IPR Training Program – USTDA provided a $383,000 grant to China's General Administration of Customs (GAC) to fund training for GAC's management and customs inspectors. This initiative follows a previous USTDA program on customs modernization, and aims to limit the amount of IPR violations by highlighting methods and techniques to identify counterfeit and pirated goods. Focused on China's World Trade Organization commitments, this program is an important trade capacity initiative in the U.S.-China bilateral economic relationship. The program is being conducted by the Global Alliance for Trade Efficiency, Inc.

Europe and Eurasia

Serbia: Intellectual Property Office Operational and Organizational Technical Assistance Project – USTDA approved $465,857 in funding to provide organizational and operational technical assistance to the Serbian State Agency for the Protection of Intellectual Property Rights, otherwise known as the Intellectual Property Office (IPO). This assistance will help the IPO to restructure and develop new operational protocols for processing patents and trademarks in order to become an efficient and financially self-sustaining agency.

Latin America and the Caribbean

Brazil: IPR Training Program – USTDA is funding a $173,000 training seminar to help the American Chamber of Commerce in São Paulo with its efforts to strengthen the State of São Paulo's capacity to effectively enforce IPR protection. This activity will support training for the state government's IPR enforcement officers. U.S. government and private sector IPR experts will present theoretical and practical approaches, anti-piracy identification tactics, and associated technologies for IPR protection.

Colombia: Customs Modernization Capacity Building – USTDA approved $76,333 for a technical symposium to highlight the trade facilitation benefits associated with customs modernization and IPR protection in Colombia. As the country anticipates a free trade relationship with the United States under the U.S.-Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement, this symposium will help contribute to local customs modernization efforts. Sandler & Travis Trade Advisory Services, Inc. conducted this activity.

Middle East and North Africa

No briefs at this time.

South and Southeast Asia

India Biotechnology Patent Examination Training Program – USTDA approved a $330,000 agricultural and pharmaceutical biotechnology training program for patent examiners in India's Patent Office. The goal of the program is to expedite technical reviews of biotechnology patent applications, bring legitimate products to market more expeditiously, and accelerate the approval and registration of intellectual property in India. This program will also facilitate India's ability to protect intellectual property.

Sub-Saharan Africa

No briefs at this time.