109 HR 32 IH: Stop Counterfeiting in Manufactured Goods Act U.S. House of Representatives 2005-01-04 text/xml EN Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain.

I 109th CONGRESS 1st Session H. R. 32 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES January 4, 2005 Mr. Knollenberg (for himself, Mr. Green of Wisconsin, Mr. Ehlers, Mr. Simmons, Mr. Gillmor, Mr. Smith of Texas, Mr. Coble, Mr. McCotter, Mr. Camp, Mr. Upton, Mr. Rogers of Michigan, Mr. Wexler, Mr. Levin, Mr. Rohrabacher, Mr. Goodlatte, Mr. Weldon of Pennsylvania, Mrs. Miller of Michigan, Mr. Hoekstra, Mr. Chabot, Ms. Kaptur, Mr. McGovern, and Mr. Terry) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To amend title 18, United States Code, to provide criminal penalties for trafficking in counterfeit marks.

1.

Short title; findings

(a)

Short title

This Act may be cited as the Stop Counterfeiting in Manufactured Goods Act. (b)

Findings

The Congress finds that— (1)the United States economy is losing millions of dollars in tax revenue and tens of thousands of jobs because of the manufacture, distribution, and sale of counterfeit goods; (2)the U.S. Customs Service and Border Protection estimates that counterfeiting costs the U.S. $200 billion annually; (3)counterfeit automobile parts, including brake pads, cost the auto industry alone billions of dollars in lost sales each year; (4)counterfeit products have invaded numerous industries including those producing auto parts, electrical appliances, medicines, tools, toys, office equipment, clothing, and many other products; (5)ties have been established between counterfeiting and terrorist organizations that use the sale of counterfeit goods to raise and launder money; (6)ongoing counterfeiting of manufactured goods poses a widespread threat to public health and safety; and (7)strong domestic criminal remedies against counterfeiting will permit the United States to seek stronger anticounterfeiting provisions in bilateral and international agreements with trading partners.

2.

Trafficking in counterfeit marks

Section 2320 of title 18, United States Code, is amended as follows: (1)Subsection (a) is amended by inserting after such goods or services the following: , or intentionally traffics or attempts to traffic in labels, patches, stickers, wrappers, badges, emblems, medallions, charms, boxes, containers, cans, cases, hangtags, documentation, or packaging of any type or nature to which a counterfeit mark is knowingly applied,. (2)Subsection (b) is amended to read as follows: (b) (1)Upon a determination by a preponderance of the evidence that any article in the possession of a defendant in a prosecution under this section bears or consists of a counterfeit mark, the court shall order the forfeiture and destruction of such article, regardless of whether the defendant is convicted of an offense under this section. (2)The court, in imposing a sentence upon a person convicted of a violation of this section, or upon a person who pleads guilty or nolo contendre to a violation of this section, shall order, in addition to any other sentence imposed, that the person forfeit to the United States— (A)any property constituting or derived from any proceeds the person obtained, directly or indirectly, as the result of such violation, and (B)any of the person’s property used, or intended to be used, in any manner or part, to commit, facilitate, aid, or abet the commission of such violation,if the court in its discretion so determines, taking into account the nature, scope, and proportionality of the use of the property in the offense. (3)When a person is convicted of an offense under this section, or pleads guilty or nolo contendre to an offense under this section, the court, pursuant to sections 3556, 3663A, and 3664, shall order the person to pay restitution to the owner of the mark and any other victim of the offense as an offense against property referred to in section 3663A(c)(1)(A)(ii). (4)The term victim, as used in paragraph (3), has the meaning given that term in section 3663A(a)(2).. (3)Subsection (e)(1) is amended— (A)by striking subparagraph (A) and inserting the following: (A)a spurious mark— (i)that is used in connection with trafficking in any goods, services, labels, patches, stickers, wrappers, badges, emblems, medallions, charms, boxes, containers, cans, cases, hangtags, documentation, or packaging of any type or nature; (ii)that is identical with, or substantially indistinguishable from, a mark registered on the principal register in the United States Patent and Trademark Office and in use, whether or not the defendant knew such mark was so registered; (iii)that is applied to or used in connection with the goods or services for which the mark is registered with the United States Patent and Trademark Office, or is applied to or consists of a label, patch, sticker, wrapper, badge, emblem, medallion, charm, box, container, can, case, hangtag, documentation, or packaging of any type or nature that is capable of being applied to or used in connection with the goods or services for which the mark is registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office; and (iv)the use of which is likely to cause confusion, to cause mistake, or to deceive; or; and (B)in the matter following subparagraph (B), by striking used in connection with goods or services and inserting that is applied to goods, or used in connection with services,. (4)Section 2320 is further amended— (A)by redesignating subsection (f) as subsection (g); and (B)by inserting after subsection (e) the following: (f)Nothing in this section shall entitle the United States to bring a criminal cause of action for the repackaging, without deception, of genuine goods or services..