Intellectual Property

The event featured remarks from policymakers, legal experts, and industry leaders who assessed the scope of the threat and the legal and technical frameworks that can help address foreign online piracy.

The OECD guidelines are a critical step in shaping how global e-commerce operates. But unless they reflect the geopolitical and regulatory asymmetries that define today’s counterfeit trade, they will fall short of their ambition.

Chinese e-commerce platforms are profiting from large-scale design theft that undermines independent creators on sites like Etsy. U.S. policymakers should respond with stronger IP enforcement and trade regulations to protect the American creative economy.

In Law360, Eli Clemens argues that international anti-counterfeiting efforts must directly confront China’s central role in the counterfeit trade, or risk rendering global enforcement guidelines ineffective.

More than a decade after the overheated SOPA/PIPA debate, experience from around the world shows that blocking access to piracy websites is an effective way to protect copyright holders and increase legal content consumption without harming legal commerce or free expression.

Eli Clemens spoke at a stakeholder roundtable discussion hosted by the OECD and the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office. Clemens urged the OECD to confront China's role as the main source of counterfeit goods in global ecommerce.

Eli Clemens speaks about OECD's Draft Voluntary Guidelines for Countering Illicit Trade in Counterfeit Goods on Online Marketplaces at a roundtable discussion hosted by U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

Counterfeit drugs are flooding U.S. supply chains—fueled by third-party sellers, drop-shipping, and weak online pharmacy oversight. The fentanyl crisis highlights the danger, but the issue runs deeper. Enforcement alone isn't enough. Congress and regulators must embrace digital solutions like blockchain, RFID tagging, and tamper-proof packaging to secure drug traceability and protect public health.

The UK should reject misleading claims that AI training is theft and instead adopt a modern, permissive copyright framework that protects creativity while enabling the innovation needed to become a global AI leader.

The Foreign Anti-Digital Piracy Act (FADPA) would let U.S. courts block access to foreign piracy sites that profit off stolen American content, aligning the U.S. with over 40 countries that already take similar action. Despite critics' claims of censorship, the bill targets only sites primarily designed for copyright theft, offering a lawful, narrow solution to a billion-dollar problem.