U.S. Companies Seek Talent to Identify and Prevent Global IP Theft
American corporations are losing billions to China from the theft of intellectual property (IP). In a Forbes commentary, James Bacchus, Chair of the Global Trade and Investment Practice Group of the international law firm Greenberg Traurig LLP, and counsel to the China Copyright Alliance, argues that due to its size and reluctance to enforce its copyright laws China has and remains the focus of American and global concern. “China is responsible for billions of dollars of lost revenues by American companies, and thousands of lost jobs by American workers, because of its failure to protect intellectual property rights effectively and because of its refusal to open its market to the copyrighted products,” he wrote.
The high price American workers and businesses are paying due to the global theft of U.S. intellectual property - particularly in Asia – cannot be ignored, especially in these times of economic turmoil. Right now a growing number of corporations are seeking corporate security experts to identify and help prevent IP theft both at home and abroad. Executive search firm, A.E. Feldman, is on top of the trend and is currently addressing this need with the industry’s leading fraud specialists.
High Price of IP Theft
Amid the recession, the copyright industries are critical to the U.S economy, according to Bacchus. He states that in 2007 alone, 11.7 million Americans were employed, directly or indirectly, in the copyright industries. That translates to about one in 12 of all American workers. Foreign sales of the copyright industries also totaled $126 billion in 2007- far surpassing foreign sales of such other vital American industries as aircraft, automobiles, agriculture and pharmaceuticals.
Overall, U.S. intellectual property is worth $5-5.5 trillion - more than the gross domestic product (GDP) of any other country, according to “The Economic Value of Intellectual Property,” USA for Innovation. The U.S. Department of Commerce also reports that IP accounts for more than half of all U.S. exports.
That said, the damage done to American workers and businesses by global piracy of the intellectual property of the U.S. copyright industries cannot be exaggerated. Counterfeiting and piracy have resulted in the loss of hundreds of thousands jobs in the U.S., according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection. In fact, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission says the auto industry could hire 250,000 additional workers if the sale of counterfeit auto parts was eliminated.
Moreover, illegal software in California alone cost software vendors more than $1.3 billion last year - the highest of any state, and higher than the national figure for 98 other countries. And in fiscal 2008, the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol reports that China alone accounted for 81% of the total domestic value of $272.7 million in seized counterfeit or pirated goods, according to Crain’s Detroit Business.
Making Strides to Protect IP Rights
Back in June, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce applauded the passage of the Foreign Relations Authorization Act (H.R. 2410) sponsored by Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Howard Berman, according to the Global Intellectual Property Center an Affiliate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. The measure furthers IP enforcement as a key component of U.S. foreign policy.
“This legislation will play a vital role in efforts to protect job-creating intellectual property abroad,” said Mark Esper, Executive Vice President of the Chamber’s Global Intellectual Property Center (GIPC). “Through increased IP enforcement and an emphasis on protecting IP rights in climate change negotiations, America’s foreign policy efforts will focus on protecting jobs and strengthening our economy.”
A new World Trade Organization (WTO) ruling has also confirmed most of the American claims against China on market access relating to trading rights, services, and goods, notes Bacchus. “With this verdict in hand, American copyright holders and producers will be able to penetrate, and to compete, much more successfully in the rapidly growing Chinese market. And, with implementation proceeding in an earlier decision this year in a companion case in the WTO, they should be able to do so with greater assurance that their intellectual property rights will be respected in the Chinese marketplace,” he wrote.
There is also, in this case, an added incentive, argues Bacchus. “Increasingly, China’s leaders understand that China cannot hope to harness the boundless creativity of the Chinese people, and transform it into lasting prosperity, unless China joins other nations in protecting intellectual property rights. Intellectual property is the crystallization of creativity that inspires economic growth,” he concluded.
Are you working in corporate security? If you want to grow your career or discuss your firm’s talent or IP security needs, contact A.E. Feldman’s President, Mitch Feldman, today.
