How Does The FTA Protect Intellectual Property Rights (IPR)?
U.S. industry supports the IPR provisions of the Agreement noting that it maintains many of the key characteristics of the IPR chapter of the U.S.-Morocco FTA, which the U.S. industry considers a benchmark for all FTAs. This Agreement provides for tough penalties for piracy and counterfeiting by requiring each government to criminalize end-user piracy. Additionally, each government commits to having and maintaining authority to seize, forfeit, and destroy counterfeit and pirated goods and the equipment used to produce them. Moreover, IPR laws will be enforced against goods-in-transit, to deter violators from using U.S. or Bahraini ports or free-trade zones to traffic in pirated products. Finally, the Agreement mandates both statutory and actual damages under Bahraini law for IPR violations, which will further deter piracy.
