White House IP chief: report to Congress coming soon

Victoria Espinel, the nation’s first IP enforcement coordinator, today told a House panel that the administration is ramping up efforts to combat intellectual property crimes, both at home and abroad, online and off, and that her office is hoping to submit a white paper to Congress with legislative recommendations shortly, though she would not give a set time frame.

Appearing before an oversight hearing convened by the House Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Intellectual Property, Competition and the Internet, Espinel explained that her office was coordinating with numerous agencies across the government that deal with IP issues, but admitted that she was working with limited resources.

Her office, authorized by the 2008 PRO IP Act, has only one full-time staffer aside from Espinel, augmented by a rotating cast of detailees from other agencies.

She stressed that her office is working closely agencies such as Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE), FBI and DoJ, among others, to coordinate the administration’s efforts to get a hold of the myriad intellectual property issues that affect a broad array of industries, from high tech to pharmaceuticals and entertainment.