James Sensenbrenner, January 5, 2006

"Cheaters never prosper." It’s a message parents communicate to their children repeatedly. And today, parents as well as business owners, can be thankful that the Bush Administration has taken steps to ensure cheaters on intellectual property rights laws don’t prosper.

When someone in Wisconsin comes up with an idea or invention, it isn’t fair if another person steals that idea for his or her own profit. In the United States, we have tough laws in place to stop such theft and encourage innovation. But once we leave our borders, we encounter difficulties because not all nations take the same steps we do to protect people’s originality.

In October 2004, the Department of Commerce, in collaboration with nine federal agencies, launched the Strategy Targeting Organized Piracy (STOP) initiative. Since that time, STOP has taken many steps to crack down on violations of American trademark and patent laws, including training U.S. embassy personnel to be effective first responders to intellectual property rights abuses and keep fakes from entering the market. STOP’s successes include the seizure of tens of millions of dollars of counterfeit and pirated products. STOP’s website, www.StopFakes.gov, also provides intellectual property rights toolkits for Korea, Mexico, Taiwan, and Russia, in addition to China, with more nation-specific toolkits expected in the coming months.

In carrying out my oversight responsibilities as Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, I have witnessed first hand the gross infringements upon American intellectual property rights that occur in other countries. Specifically, during a visit to China, I observed some of the rampant violations on which that communist government looked the other way. This illegal activity costs Western businesses $16 billion every year in China alone.

Our Founding Fathers recognized that intellectual property rights were an essential underpinning of our free market system. However, in today’s global economy, enforcement of these laws has become increasingly difficult, as some of our trading partners have chosen not to deal in good faith.

For this reason, I have made it a point to support and cosponsor legislation withdrawing normal trade relations treatment from the products of the People's Republic of China. Until China demonstrates a willingness to protect intellectual property rights on a level playing field, many American businesses will not have the assurance that their intellectual property is safe in that country.

If you, or any others you know, have been a victim of organized piracy, or to learn more about the Bush Administration’s efforts to combat piracy, call the STOP Fakes hotline at 1-866-999-HALT. As we enter the New Year, I am hopeful that the Administration’s efforts will persuade more of our trading partners to turn over a new leaf and begin respecting America’s intellectual property laws. Keeping this program going will help ensure that cheaters never prosper.

Congressman James Sensenbrenner, a Republican, represents the Fifth Congressional District of Wisconsin. He serves as chairman of the House Committee on the Judiciary. The Fifth District of Wisconsin forms an arc surrounding Milwaukee to the North and West, and includes parts of Jefferson, Milwaukee and Waukesha counties, and all of Ozaukee and Washington counties.