White House report claims 'great strides' on intellectual property

The White House claimed "great strides" in implementing its strategic plan on protecting intellectual property in a report released March 30. The report detailed efforts over the past year to increase protection of U.S. intellectual property. Released annually and bearing the seal of the Obama Administration's Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator, the report notes the steps taken to implement the Joint Strategic Plan on Intellectual Property Enforcement.

The United States has taken "great strides towards implementing the Strategy," IP czar Victoria Espenel wrote in a letter prefacing the report. Putting the IP enforcement plan has taken the coordinated efforts of numerous agencies and offices, she said, to execute 43 action items under six principles. The plan's goal has been to "improve intellectual property enforcement, thereby protecting innovation, strengthening the economy, supporting American jobs, and promoting exports in intellectual property-related sectors by increasing intellectual property enforcement," she said. While the report encourages more inter-agency cooperation and public-private partnerships, it indicates that the administration isn't keen on legislation that would sacrifice freedom of expression in the name of IP enforcement.