Protecting IP Act of 2021

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1924 To direct the President to enforce the intellectual property provisions of the Economic and Trade Agreement Between the Government of the United States of America and the Government of China, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MAY 27, 2021 Mr. DAINES (for himself and Ms. CORTEZ MASTO) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance A BILL To direct the President to enforce the intellectual property provisions of the Economic and Trade Agreement Be- tween the Government of the United States of America and the Government of China, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Protecting IP Act of 4 2021’’. 5 SEC. 2. AGREEMENT DEFINED. 6 In this Act, the term ‘‘Agreement’’ means the Eco- 7 nomic and Trade Agreement Between the Government of 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:08 Jun 16, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1924.IS S1924 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1924 IS the United States of America and the Government of 1 China, dated January 15, 2020. 2 SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 3 It is the sense of Congress that— 4 (1) the Agreement includes significant man- 5 dates for the People’s Republic of China related to 6 its domestic intellectual property regime, including 7 with respect to copyrights, trademarks, trade se- 8 crets, and patents; 9 (2) the changes included in the Agreement, if 10 implemented effectively, should improve the domestic 11 intellectual property framework of the People’s Re- 12 public of China, which has historically proven to 13 harm the innovation and creative communities in the 14 United States; 15 (3) despite commitments made by the Govern- 16 ment of the People’s Republic of China under the 17 Agreement, ongoing market access barriers, uneven 18 enforcement, measures requiring forced technology 19 transfer, and serious deficiencies in the rule of law 20 continue to make the business environment in the 21 People’s Republic of China highly challenging for 22 rights holders in the United States; 23 (4) as reflected in the 2021 report by the 24 United States Trade Representative required under 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:08 Jun 16, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1924.IS S1924 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1924 IS section 182(h) of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 1 2242(h)) (commonly referred to as the ‘‘Special 301 2 Report’’), the People’s Republic of China has con- 3 sistently been listed in that annual report since 1989 4 as a trading partner of the United States that ‘‘fails 5 to provide adequate and effective IP protection and 6 enforcement for U.S. inventors, creators, brands, 7 manufacturers, and service providers, which, in turn, 8 harm American workers’’; and 9 (5) Congress encourages the United States 10 Trade Representative, the Attorney General, the 11 Secretary of State, the Secretary of Homeland Secu- 12 rity, the Secretary of Commerce, and the Director of 13 the United States Patent and Trademark Office— 14 (A) to use all available tools to ensure that 15 the People’s Republic of China fully implements 16 its commitments under the Agreement; and 17 (B) to actively consider additional means 18 to require the People’s Republic of China to ad- 19 dress unfair market access barriers, forced 20 technology transfer requirements, and broader 21 intellectual property theft concerns, including 22 through future trade agreements and working 23 with partners in multilateral organizations, 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:08 Jun 16, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1924.IS S1924 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1924 IS such as the Group of 7 (G7), the Group of 20 1 (G20), and the World Trade Organization. 2 SEC. 4. ENFORCEMENT OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY PRO- 3 VISIONS OF ECONOMIC AND TRADE AGREE- 4 MENT BETWEEN THE GOVERNMENT OF THE 5 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AND THE GOV- 6 ERNMENT OF CHINA. 7 The President, acting through the United States 8 Trade Representative, shall coordinate with the heads of 9 such Federal agencies as the President considers appro- 10 priate to enforce the actions related to intellectual prop- 11 erty laid out in the Agreement including— 12 (1) the civil, administrative, and criminal proce- 13 dures and deterrent-level civil and criminal penalties 14 provided in the Agreement; and 15 (2) by using the full enforcement authority of 16 the President, including any enforcement authority 17 in connection with the identification and reporting 18 process under section 182 of the Trade Act of 1974 19 (19 U.S.C. 2242). 20 SEC. 5. REPORT ON STATUS OF IMPLEMENTATION OF CER- 21 TAIN OBLIGATIONS. 22 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 23 date of the enactment of this Act, and every 180 days 24 thereafter, the United States Trade Representative shall 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:08 Jun 16, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1924.IS S1924 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1924 IS submit to the appropriate committees of Congress a report 1 on the status of the implementation by the People’s Re- 2 public of China of its obligations under Chapter 1 of the 3 Agreement. 4 (b) INFORMATION IN REPORT.—Each report required 5 by subsection (a) shall contain information sufficient to 6 enable the appropriate committees of Congress to assess 7 the extent of the compliance by the People’s Republic of 8 China with the Agreement, including appropriate quan- 9 titative metrics. 10 (c) APPROPRIATE COMMITTEES OF CONGRESS DE- 11 FINED.—In this section, the term ‘‘appropriate commit- 12 tees of Congress’’ means the Committee on Finance of the 13 Senate and the Committee on Ways and Means of the 14 House of Representatives. 15 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:08 Jun 16, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1924.IS S1924 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS