To “significantly strengthen” IPR means to create new causes of action, increase criminal penalties, expand protection to uncovered areas, or expand the length of protection.

William J. Hughes, Speech on the House Floor Regarding the “Uruguay Round Agreements Act,” 140 Cong Rec H 11441, 29 November 1994, Lexis.

Title V of the act contains a number of important amendments to U.S. intellectual property laws that will significantly strengthen protection for authors and investors both domestically and overseas.

The intellectual property provisions are the result of extensive work and cooperation with the office of the U.S. Trade Representative to ensure that the implementing legislation was both reflective of the GATT agreement and responsive to U.S. needs. While I wish the final GATT agreement had required more in the area of national treatment and eliminated European and national content requirements in the area of audiovisual works, these are areas that will be the subject of continuing negotiations. The protection for pharmaceutical products also could have been accomplished in a shorter timeframe. We must not lose sight, however, of the fact that there are many industries and individuals which will benefit substantially from H.R. 5110.

I would like to briefly note the changes that are made to copyright, patent and trademark laws by H.R. 5110.

copyrights

Subtitle C contains four amendments on copyright and related rights:

(1) Section 511 lifts a 1997 sunset on the commercial rental of computer programs;

(2) Section 512 provides a new civil cause of action for performers to prevent bootlegs of their live musical performances;

(3) Section 513 provides new criminal penalties for bootlegging done "knowingly, and for purposes of commercial advantage or private financial gain;"

(4) Section 514 provides protection to preexisting works whose country of origin is another member of the Berne Convention or the World Trade Organization if those works are in the public domain in the United States due to noncompliance with formalities, lack of national eligibility, or, in the case of pre-1972 sound recordings, lack of subject matter protection. This amendment places the United States fully in compliance with its obligations under article 18 of the Berne Convention.

None of these provisions are, to my knowledge, controversial, and all are expected to strengthen the rights of U.S. copyright holders overseas as other countries change their laws in order to comply with their GATT (TRIPS) obligations.

Even President Clinton in his role as a jazz performer will benefit, since section 512, as required by articles 14(6) and 70(2) of the TRIPS agreement, extends protection to preexisting bootlegs, and it is my understanding that a bootleg recording of the President's jam session in Prague is currently being sold by mail order from New York. I've also heard the President's recording doesn't pose any competition to recordings of Lester Young or Coleman Hawkins.

patents

H.R. 5110, changes patent law in a way that will benefit American inventors and the public. Contrary to those ads you've been subjected to in the newspapers, the patent law changes will not reduce the length of the term of a patent.

The most significant change will alter the term of a patent from the present 17 years measured from date of the grant of a patent to a 20-year term measured from the date of filing of the patent application. This is the best policy for the operation of the U.S. patent system. This change alone will benefit the vast majority of patent owners by providing a longer term of protection instead of a shorter term as claimed by opponents.