Title 19, Customs DutiesRelease 119-102

§4349 Report on Intellectual Property Rights Enforcement

Title 19 › CHAPTER 28 — TRADE FACILITATION AND TRADE ENFORCEMENT › SUBCHAPTER III — IMPORT-RELATED PROTECTION OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS › § 4349

Last updated Aug 21, 2026|Official source

Summary

By September 30, 2016, and every year after, the Commissioner of U.S. Customs and the Director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement must send a joint report to the Senate Committee on Finance, the House Committee on Ways and Means, the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, and the House Committee on Homeland Security. The report must give yearly numbers and results for intellectual property enforcement, including how many CBP referrals went to ICE, which cases ICE sent to U.S. attorneys, how many were accepted and what happened, and how many led to civil or criminal penalties. It must describe efforts to improve case success, estimate how long the Office of Trade (under section 2084) takes to advise ports about suspected infringing goods by IP type, summarize outreach with other federal agencies, private companies, and foreign partners, report on work against Internet and small-package infringement with the volume, value, and kinds of goods seized, and summarize training done under section 4347 and its costs.

Full Legal Text

Title 19, §4349

Customs Duties, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

Not later than September 30, 2016, and annually thereafter, the Commissioner and the Director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement shall jointly submit to the Committee on Finance of the Senate, the Committee on Ways and Means of the House of Representatives, the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate, and the Committee on Homeland Security of the House of Representatives a report that contains the following:

(1)With respect to the enforcement of intellectual property rights, the following:

(A)The number of referrals, during the preceding year, from U.S. Customs and Border Protection to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement relating to infringement of intellectual property rights.

(B)The number of investigations relating to the infringement of intellectual property rights referred by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to a United States attorney for prosecution and the United States attorneys to which those investigations were referred.

(C)The number of such investigations accepted by each such United States attorney and the status or outcome of each such investigation.

(D)The number of such investigations that resulted in the imposition of civil or criminal penalties.

(E)A description of the efforts of U.S. Customs and Border Protection and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to improve the success rates of investigations and prosecutions relating to the infringement of intellectual property rights.

(2)An estimate of the average time required by the Office of Trade established under section 2084 of this title to respond to a request from port personnel for advice with respect to whether merchandise detained by U.S. Customs and Border Protection infringed intellectual property rights, distinguished by types of intellectual property rights infringed.

(3)A summary of the outreach efforts of U.S. Customs and Border Protection and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement with respect to—

(A)the interdiction and investigation of, and the sharing of information between those agencies and other Federal agencies to prevent, the infringement of intellectual property rights;

(B)collaboration with private sector entities—

(i)to identify trends in the infringement of, and technologies that infringe, intellectual property rights;

(ii)to identify opportunities for enhanced training of officers of U.S. Customs and Border Protection and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement; and

(iii)to develop best practices to enforce intellectual property rights; and

(C)coordination with foreign governments and international organizations with respect to the enforcement of intellectual property rights.

(4)A summary of the efforts of U.S. Customs and Border Protection and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to address the challenges with respect to the enforcement of intellectual property rights presented by Internet commerce and the transit of small packages and an identification of the volume, value, and type of merchandise seized for infringing intellectual property rights as a result of such efforts.

(5)A summary of training relating to the enforcement of intellectual property rights conducted under section 4347 of this title and expenditures for such training.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

19 U.S.C. § 4349

Title 19, Customs Duties

Last Updated

Aug 21, 2026

Release point: 119-102