Stites & Harbison, PLLC

Congress recently funded grants to enforce intellectual property laws.  Intellectual property theft and enforcement crimes (“IP-TIC”) grants may be used to develop and purchase technology that facilitate enforcement of anti-counterfeiting and anti-piracy laws and to educate law enforcement and the public on how to spot fakes. 

Twenty million dollars per year is available to purchase state-of-the art technology including software, nanotechnology authentication systems, radio frequency identification coding technologies,  and hologram labeling that help prevent and identify counterfeits and pirated goods.

Public universities and other educational institutions may apply for grants to educate law enforcement and the general public about intellectual property laws and their enforcement.  Local and state law enforcement agencies may even use grant funds to pay salaries of existing or additional personnel or to purchase or upgrade existing equipment.

The U.S Chamber of Congress and others in the IP community are encouraged by the Obama Administration’s recent nomination of Victoria Espinel as the U.S. Intellectual Property Czar.   Ms. Espinel, who testified before Congress in her confirmation hearing on November 4, that “more than two-thirds of the assets of U.S. publicly traded companies are intangible – these are the networks, the trade secrets, the management teams and the intellectual property that position American firms at the top of the global supply chain" has received broad support from the IP community and is expect to win swift confirmation.

There are a number of technical requirements for IP-TIC grant applicants.  Click here to read more.

Amy Sullivan Cahill is Counsel in the firm's Louisville office where her practice focuses on trademark and copyright litigation, counseling and advertising review, trademark prosecution, licensing and transactional matters.