H.R. 4930 — To expand the sharing of information with respect to suspected violations of intellectual property rights in trade., as amended
Executive Summary
This bipartisan bill amends the Tariff Act of 1930 to modernize and expand U.S. Customs and Border Protection's (CBP) ability to share information regarding suspected intellectual property (IP) violations. Recognizing the shift toward e-commerce and small-parcel shipping for counterfeit goods, the legislation lowers the threshold for CBP to share information from when it 'suspects' a violation to when it 'has a reasonable suspicion.' Crucially, it authorizes CBP to share nonpublic supply chain data generated by online marketplaces, freight forwarders, and express consignment operators with IP rights holders and other interested parties, empowering brands to better track and combat counterfeiting networks.
Arguments For
- Modernizes IP enforcement: Gives CBP and brand owners the tools to combat the modern counterfeit ecosystem, which heavily relies on e-commerce platforms and express consignment operators rather than traditional bulk shipping.
- Empowers rights holders: By providing brands with nonpublic supply chain data, it allows the private sector to shoulder more of the investigative burden in tracking down illicit manufacturing networks.
- Strong bipartisan optics: Demonstrates a tough-on-crime, pro-American-innovation stance that protects domestic manufacturers from foreign (often Chinese) IP theft without requiring new federal appropriations.
Likely Supporters
Arguments Against
- Corporate privacy and trade secret risks: E-commerce platforms and logistics providers will likely argue that sharing their 'nonpublic information' with third parties exposes proprietary supply chain data and algorithms.
- Potential for over-sharing and abuse: Lowering the standard to 'reasonable suspicion' and allowing the Commissioner to share data with 'any other party with an interest' could lead to aggressive competitors weaponizing CBP to fish for commercial intelligence.
- Implementation friction: Drafting the regulations to balance IP enforcement with the protection of legitimate confidential business information (CBI) will be highly contentious and administratively burdensome for CBP.
Likely Opponents
📋 Key Provisions
- Lowers the evidentiary threshold for CBP to share information regarding potential IP violations from 'suspects' to 'has a reasonable suspicion'.
- Expands the scope of visual evidence that can be shared to include 'packing materials' and 'containers', in addition to packaging and labels.
- Authorizes CBP to provide rights holders with nonpublic information generated by online marketplaces, express consignment operators, freight forwarders, or other entities involved in the importation.
- Requires CBP to notify the rights holder when such nonpublic information is transmitted, subject to regulations prescribed by the Secretary.
- Grants the CBP Commissioner discretion to share information with 'any other party with an interest in the merchandise'.
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Verification Guide
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Lowers the threshold for sharing information to 'reasonable suspicion'.
"striking “suspects” and inserting “has a rea-sonable suspicion”"
Expands the scope of shared visual evidence to include packing materials and containers.
"inserting “, packing materials, containers,” after"
Allows CBP to share nonpublic information generated by online marketplaces.
"nonpublic information about the merchandise that was generated by an online marketplace"
Allows the Commissioner to share information with other interested parties.
"any other party with an interest in the merchandise"