WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC) recently co-sponsored bipartisan legislation to mandate strong economic penalties on foreign firms and individuals involved in stealing American intellectual property. The Protecting American Intellectual Property Act would require sanctions on foreign individuals and firms found to engage in, benefit from, or enable the significant and serial theft of U.S. intellectual property. 

“As Chairman of the Judiciary Subcommittee on Intellectual Property, I see countless examples of intellectual property theft of American companies by foreign companies and individuals,” said Senator Tillis. “Congress needs to impose harsh penalties for these bad actors, and this bipartisan legislation will make progress to protecting American companies.”

The Protecting American Intellectual Property Act requires a report to Congress every six months identifying:

• Any foreign individual or firm that has engaged in, benefitted from, or materially assisted the significant and serial theft of U.S. trade secrets, if that theft constitutes a major threat to the national security, foreign policy, economic health or financial stability of the United States; and,
• The chief executive officers and board members of the reported firms and whether those individuals have benefitted from the significant and serial theft of U.S. trade secrets

Subsequently, the bill requires:

• For any firm identified in the report to Congress, the President must impose either property blocking sanctions or a denial order.
• For any individual identified in the report to Congress, the President must impose property blocking sanctions and must prohibit the individual’s entry into the United States. 

The economic penalties imposed terminate if the President certifies to Congress that the individual or firm is no longer engaged in the sanctionable behavior. The legislation also includes a national security waiver. 

The text of the Protecting American Intellectual Property Act is available here.