HR 22 · 113th Congress 2013–2015, ended

Foreign Counterfeit Merchandise Prevention Act

Fact sheet

Latest action · Jan 25, 2013 Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, And Investigations.

Progress

Where this bill reached, and when. A stage with no date was not reached; one that failed a vote and later carried shows the date it carried.

  1. IntroducedJan 3, 2013
  2. Passed HouseNot reached
  3. Passed SenateNot reached
  4. To the PresidentNot reached
  5. Became lawNot reached

Summary

Foreign Counterfeit Merchandise Prevention Act - Amends the federal criminal code to provide that it shall not be a violation of the prohibition against a federal employee disclosing trade secrets or other confidential or proprietary information for an officer or employee of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP): (1) upon detention and thereafter, to provide the owner of a copyright or a registered mark or any person who may be injured by a circumvention of copyright protection systems with any information appearing on the merchandise, including its retail packaging, or a sample or image of such merchandise and its retail packaging, for the purposes of determining whether the merchandise or its packaging infringes the copyright, bears or consists of a counterfeit mark of the registered mark, or is a violation of copyright protection systems; or (2) after seizing merchandise determined to be in violation of copyright protection systems, to provide certain information to persons injured by such violation, including the date of importation, the port of entry, a description of the merchandise, the country of origin of the merchandise, the names and addresses of the foreign manufacturer, the exporter, and the importer, and a photographic or digital image of the merchandise.

Applies such exemption only with respect to tangible goods presented to the CBP for importation into, or exportation from, the United States.

Amends the Lanham Act to direct the Secretary of Homeland Security (DHS) (the Secretary) to record and transmit to customs officers any contact information, documentation of the locality in which goods were manufactured, and copies of trademark registrations furnished by domestic or eligible foreign manufacturers or traders for the purpose of aiding the enforcement of a prohibition on the importation of goods bearing infringing marks or names. (Currently, such activities are performed by the Secretary of the Treasury.)

Requires the Secretary, if the CBP detains critical merchandise bearing a DHS-recorded registered trademark, to provide the trademark owner any information on such critical merchandise and its packaging and labels, including, without redaction, photographs or digital images, packaging, and labels. Permits the Secretary, subject to any bonding and return requirements, to provide the owner samples of the critical merchandise without redaction.

Defines "critical merchandise" to include: (1) aircraft engines, appliances, propellers, and spare parts; (2) motor vehicle equipment; (3) semiconductors; and (4) any other article of manufacture that the Secretary determines could, if permitted entry into the United States in violation of the U.S. laws, pose a danger to the health, safety, or welfare of consumers, or to the national security of the United States.

Applies such Lanham Act amendments only with respect to tangible goods presented to the CBP for importation into the United States.

Cosponsors 17

Members who signed on, in the order they did. Signatures ran from Jan 3, 2013 to Oct 11, 2013, with 6 there on the day it was introduced.

SeatCosponsorSigned on
R-CAHoward P. "Buck" McKeonOriginalJan 3, 2013
D-CALinda T. SánchezOriginalJan 3, 2013
R-TXMichael T. McCaulOriginalJan 3, 2013
R-OHSteve ChabotOriginalJan 3, 2013
D-MAWilliam R. KeatingOriginalJan 3, 2013
D-CAZoe LofgrenOriginalJan 3, 2013
D-CAAnna G. EshooFeb 4, 2013
R-TXSteve StockmanFeb 4, 2013
R-UTJason ChaffetzFeb 5, 2013
R-NCHoward CobleFeb 12, 2013
R-NDKevin CramerMar 4, 2013
D-CAJanice HahnMar 12, 2013
R-TXBlake FarentholdApr 9, 2013
R-TXPete OlsonMay 15, 2013
R-WIF. James Sensenbrenner, Jr.Jun 11, 2013

Actions 3

Everything that happened, newest first.

  1. Jan 25, 2013Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, And Investigations.
  2. Jan 3, 2013Introduced in House
  3. Jan 3, 2013Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.

Subjects

Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Crime and Law Enforcement.

Text 1

Each version as it was printed, newest first.

  1. Jan 3, 2013Introduced in House

Support LegiList

This page is free, carries no paywall, and is built and maintained by one person. If the record here is useful to you, a few dollars keeps it going.

Processed by Stripe in a separate window. LegiList never sees card details.

Everything here is as published by Congress: the summary is the Congressional Research Service's, the action wording is the clerks', and the subjects are the Library of Congress's. How far it got is read from the actions themselves, taking the most recent one of each kind, so a bill that failed a vote and later passed is shown as having passed. Records come from this bill on Congress.gov and govinfo.gov.