To expand the sharing of information with respect to suspected violations of intellectual property rights in trade.
What changed between versions
A new paragraph (4) requires that when CBP provides nonpublic information about merchandise under paragraph (3), it must notify the person of the information transmitted, in accordance with regulations the Secretary may prescribe. This is a new transparency obligation on CBP.
The description of what visual materials can be shared was expanded. The old version only referenced images of merchandise; the new version explicitly adds 'its packaging, packing materials, containers, and labels' to the list of items whose images may be provided to rights holders.
The description of covered entities in paragraph (3) was reworded from 'the sale or importation of merchandise into the United States or the facilitation of such sale or importation' to 'the sale or importation of merchandise, or the facilitation thereof, into the United States,' slightly restructuring which phrase 'into the United States' modifies.
The insertion of 'packing materials, containers' language is now limited to 'the first place it appears' rather than 'each place it appears,' and the word 'shipping' was removed before 'containers.' This narrows where in the statute the new terms are inserted.
