To expand the sharing of information with respect to suspected violations of intellectual property rights in trade.
Summary
What This Bill Does
This bill amends section 628A of the Tariff Act of 1930, which governs information sharing when U.S. Customs and Border Protection suspects imported merchandise may violate intellectual property rights. It changes the standard from CBP merely suspecting a violation to having reasonable suspicion, and expands what CBP may share with the rights holder or other eligible party. The covered information includes images of merchandise, packaging, packing materials, containers, and labels.
The bill also lets CBP provide nonpublic information about the merchandise that was generated by an online marketplace or similar market platform, express consignment operator, freight forwarder, or another entity involved in selling, importing, or facilitating importation into the United States. When CBP provides that nonpublic information, it must notify the person whose information was transmitted under regulations prescribed by the Secretary.
Who Benefits and How
Intellectual property rights holders benefit because they can receive more detailed CBP information when merchandise is reasonably suspected of violating their rights. Trademark owners benefit from access to container, packing-material, label, and platform data that can help identify counterfeit shipments. Brand-protection investigators benefit because online marketplace and logistics information can connect suspect merchandise to sellers, freight forwarders, or express consignment channels. Customs enforcement staff benefit from clearer statutory authority to share evidence with the people best positioned to verify rights violations.
Who Bears the Burden and How
Online marketplaces must expect nonpublic merchandise information they generated to be shared with rights holders when CBP has reasonable suspicion. Express consignment operators and freight forwarders face similar disclosure risk for shipment data supplied to or obtained by CBP. Importers of suspected counterfeit goods face greater enforcement exposure because rights holders can receive richer evidence. Customs and Border Protection intellectual-property enforcement staff must determine when reasonable suspicion exists, transmit information, and provide required notifications.
Key Provisions
- Replaces a simple suspicion standard with a reasonable-suspicion standard for CBP information sharing.
- Expands sharable materials to include packaging, packing materials, containers, and labels.
- Provides CBP authority to share nonpublic information generated by online marketplaces or similar platforms.
- Provides CBP authority to share nonpublic information generated by express consignment operators and freight forwarders.
- Requires notification when nonpublic information is transmitted.
Evidence Chain:
This summary is generated from the full bill text using AI analysis. Expand "Detailed Analysis" below for identified beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.
At a Glance
What This Bill Does
Expands Customs and Border Protection information-sharing authority in suspected intellectual-property-rights violations so rights holders and interested parties may receive images, packaging, container, label, and nonpublic platform or logistics information generated by online marketplaces, express consignment operators, freight forwarders, or other import participants.
Key Policy Areas
Trade, Intellectual Property, Customs Enforcement, E-Commerce
Primary Purpose
Expands Customs and Border Protection information-sharing authority in suspected intellectual-property-rights violations so rights holders and interested parties may receive images, packaging, container, label, and nonpublic platform or logistics information generated by online marketplaces, express consignment operators, freight forwarders, or other import participants.
Policy Domains
House resolution provisions
Identified Gains
- Intellectual property rights holders
- Trademark owners
- Brand-protection investigators
- Customs enforcement staff
- CBP intellectual-property staff
- U.S. import compliance teams
Identified Costs
- Online marketplaces
- Express consignment operators
- Freight forwarders
- Importers of suspected counterfeit goods
- Customs and Border Protection intellectual-property enforcement staff
- Marketplace data-compliance staff
- Logistics data-compliance staff
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
ReportedReceived in the Senate and Read twice and referred to …
Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance
Motion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without …
Mr. Moore (UT) moved to suspend the rules and pass …
Motion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without …
On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill, …
Passed/agreed to in House: On motion to suspend the rules …
DEBATE - The House proceeded with forty minutes of debate …
Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the …
Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 361.
Stakeholder Effects
cui bono?How this legislation distributes effects. Mention counts reflect frequency, not effect magnitude.
Brand-protection investigators, Importers of suspected counterfeit goods, Intellectual property rights holders
Positive-direction: Brand-protection investigators, Intellectual property rights holders, Trademark owners
Negative-direction: Importers of suspected counterfeit goods
Customs and Border Protection intellectual-property staff
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
- "cbp"
- → U.S. Customs and Border Protection
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
Learn more about our methodology