Commerce seeks comments for counterfeits report

Planned for this fall, submission of the report will follow an April presidential memorandum requiring the departments of Commerce and Homeland Security to send a report focusing on the extent to which third parties facilitate or work to combat trafficking in counterfeits.

   The Commerce Department is seeking comments from intellectual property rights holders, online third-party marketplaces and other third-party intermediaries, as well as other private-sector stakeholders on the state of counterfeit and pirated goods trafficking through online third-party marketplaces and recommendations for curbing trafficking of such counterfeit and pirated goods, Commerce announced.
   The Presidential Memorandum of April 3, “Combating Trafficking in Counterfeit and Pirated Goods,” directs the secretary of homeland security, in coordination with the commerce secretary and in consultation with other agencies and offices, to prepare and submit such a report to the president.
   Commerce will accept comments via the federal eRulemaking portal through 5 p.m. July 29.
   Specifically, the report will analyze available data and other information to develop a deeper understanding of the extent to which online third-party marketplaces and other third-party intermediaries are used to facilitate the importation and sale of counterfeit and pirated goods and identify factors contributing to trafficking in counterfeit and pirated goods, Commerce said.
   The report also will describe any market incentives and distortions that may contribute to third-party intermediaries facilitating trafficking in counterfeit and pirated goods.
   “This review should include data regarding the origins of counterfeit and pirated goods and the types of counterfeit and pirated goods that are trafficked, along with any other relevant data, and shall provide a foundation for any recommended administrative, regulatory, legislative or policy changes,” Commerce said.
   Further, the report will analyze the existing policies and procedures of third-party intermediaries related to trafficking in counterfeit and pirated goods and identify the practices of those entities that have been most effective in curbing the importation and sale of counterfeit and pirated goods, including those conveyed through third-party marketplaces, Commerce said.
   Commerce and the Department of Homeland Security are required to deliver the report to the president by Oct. 30.