Chelsey Cox, CNBC; Senators aim to protect small businesses from foreign IP theft with new bill
"The American IP Defense and Enforcement Advancement Act, or the IDEA Act, is a bipartisan response to large losses business owners face each year due to IP theft. Misuse of IP has cost the U.S. economy an estimated $225 billion to $600 billion each year, according to a 2017 report from the Commission on the Theft of American Intellectual Property that was cited by the lawmakers.
If passed, the IDEA Act will reauthorize a state and local law enforcement intellectual property enforcement program at $25 million per year from 2024-29. The program – which supports state, local and tribal jurisdictions in preventing and reducing, investigating, and prosecuting IP theft crimes – was initially authorized for 2009-13.
The program, called PRO-IP, funded enforcement infrastructure in Austin, Texas, and Jackson, Mississippi, as well as a sheriff’s program in Chicago. There would be particular emphasis on a list of countries under watch by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. They include China, Mexico, Guatemala and Colombia — areas where IP theft against U.S. small businesses is particularly rampant."
