STOPfakes.gov Road Shows Bring U.S. Government Tools and Assistance to You

Blogged By:

Andrea Cornwell

Created on September 27, 2012

Hello from Chicago, where I just wrapped up our most recent stop on ITA’s STOPFakes.gov Road Shows [1] tour. The Road Shows have been a hit across the U.S. After a whirlwind tour to eight cities, my colleagues and I have met with hundreds of U.S. companies, educating them on how to protect and enforce their intellectual property rights (IPR) in the U.S. and in foreign markets.

At each Road Show, our team of experts covered the basics—how to protect your company’s patents, trademarks, and copyrights—and advised on protection for online content and useful law enforcement resources to seize counterfeit products. We also offered free one-on-one consultations for U.S. companies at the end of each session.

My colleagues and I have enjoyed getting to meet U.S. exporters across the country, and have appreciated hearing first-hand about the challenges they face with respect to protecting and enforcing their IPR. During my time in Chicago, some common questions that companies have asked include:

If you weren’t able to join us at one of our Road Shows, don’t worry – you haven’t missed your chance to ask your questions! We’re always ready to help U.S. companies with IPR-related issues, and can be reached through the contact page on our one-stop IPR portal, STOPfakes.gov.

And don’t forget, the STOPfakes.gov Road Show has one more stop in Oklahoma City on September 28 [6]. For more information about our final stop, please contact Ashley Wilson at ashley.wilson@trade.gov [7].

Andrea Cornwell is an International Trade Specialist in the Office of Intellectual Property Rights [8] (OIPR) within the Market Access and Compliance [9] unit of the International Trade Administration [10]. Raquel Cohen, also an International Trade Specialist in OIPR, coordinated the STOPfakes.gov [8] Road Shows.