The Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator (IPEC) recently released the Administration’s 2013 Joint Strategic Plan for Intellectual Property Enforcement.
The report encourages private sector voluntary initiatives to help reduce intellectual property infringement that occurs online, and notes that the USPTO will solicit public input to assist in the evaluation of whether such voluntary initiatives are effective in reducing infringement. As a result, the USPTO is seeking public comment on the subject.
In particuar, it appears that the USPTO would like to know how to measure the effectiveness of such initiatives and what types of data would be used. It strikes me that data regarding Google’s programs, including their DMCA takedowns and AdWords complaints, could be quite useful to measure the effectiveness of those initiatives.
The full request for comments can be found here: https://s3.amazonaws.com/public-inspection.federalregister.gov/2013-14702.pdf
Comments can be submitted via http://www.regulations.gov, docket number PTO-2013-0036
Comments are due by July 22, 2013.
Note: While public comment is a useful tool when done effectively, the USPTO is not the right agency for this study or comment collection. The USPTO has little to do with online infringements. The Department of Commerce, particularly because of its role overseeing ICAAN, would have been a better agency to facilitate these comments.
