Revamped Website Helps Businesses Protect IPR
March 14, 2012The Office of Intellectual Property Rights (OIPR) is located in the Trade Agreements and Compliance area of ITA’s Market Access and Compliance unit. One of OIPR responsibilities is to develop trade programs and tools to help U.S. businesses and citizens protect and enforce their IPR in foreign markets, and conducting outreach to raise awareness.
This week the International Trade Administration, in cooperation with other relevant U.S. agencies, unveiled the newly redesigned website, www.STOPfakes.gov. This is part of continued efforts to improve online tools making information easier to find.
Originally debuted in 2005, www.STOPfakes.gov is an invaluable one-stop shop for IPR resources and information that is particularly relevant to small and medium-sized businesses. A self-paced IPR tutorial available in English, French and Spanish explains patents, copyrights, trademarks and trade secrets and guides small businesses through an IP audit to assess intangible assets.
Through the website, users can report IPR theft to federal law enforcement and obtain a free one-hour consultation with a lawyer knowledgeable on IPR protection.
Another resource is the IPR Toolkits. These are self-help manuals that provide the ins and outs of foreign IPR systems to help U.S. companies protect their business and IPR interests in foreign countries. A broad range of IPR materials produced by the European Commission is also available to users through the TransAtlantic IPR Portal.
The U.S. Government looks forward to continuing to help U.S. businesses develop and protect their intellectual property interests via the IPR tools and resources available through www.STOPfakes.gov. The more U.S. businesses of all sizes know about protecting and enforcing their intellectual property rights abroad, the greater the returns will be right here at home.
This looks like an excellent resource that is important to know about. Small businesses have little time to spend on IPR. I did not know of the website’s existence and thank you for bringing it to our attention.