Global Trademark Community Lauds Obama for Supporting ACTA

NEW YORK, NY – March 2010 – The International Trademark Association (INTA) today announced its support for President Barack Obama as he underscores the importance of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) and the United States’ commitment to protecting businesses and consumers around the world from intellectual property infringement.
The letter of support, highlights the fact that a strong economic future with sustained job growth, combined with tough intellectual property protections, will guard businesses and consumers in the global marketplace.
“The entire trademark community is pleased to see that President Obama has made the case for increasing protections for brand owners and consumers a top priority. Once complete, we are confident that ACTA will be a meaningful treaty that will increase protection against counterfeit products that threaten the health and safety of consumers,” said INTA Executive Director, Alan Drewsen.
About ACTA
In late 2007, in recognition of increasing challenges to combating counterfeiting and piracy, Australia, Canada, the European Union, Japan, Mexico, South Korea, Switzerland and the United States announced that they would begin negotiations on the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, known as ACTA – a plurilateral agreement intended to establish a stronger set of common standards for intellectual property enforcement among the signatories of the Agreement.
INTA has expressed support for the general principles and objectives of ACTA, and in cooperation with the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) has coordinated the effort of more than twenty national, regional and international industry associations, many of which are based in the negotiating countries, to provide the business perspective on topics under discussion by ACTA negotiators. The group has urged negotiators to deliver an agreement that will significantly improve the international enforcement by establishing stronger standards for government performance and more effective national regimes for protecting intellectual property rights.
In and on behalf of
Patent and law firm IPPro