Brian Pomper Quoted in Law360 on Biden’s Likely Steps to Protect US Intellectual Property

Brian Pomper, co-head of Akin Gump’s public law and policy practice, has been quoted in the Law360 article “What You Need To Know About Biden And IP.” The article reports that President-elect Joe Biden is expected to be vigilant in enforcing U.S. intellectual property rights overseas and active in combating counterfeiters.

Pomper, who leads the Alliance for Trade Enforcement, noted that Biden has made it “really clear” that part of the way to enforce IP abroad is through trade enforcement. With that in mind, he thinks the new administration will likely approach international trade through the lens of foreign policy, since the latter is what Biden was more focused on while in the Senate. Pomper added that he expects the President-elect to go through traditional diplomatic channels and escalate from there when trying to enforce IP rights in countries like China, as opposed to jumping straight to imposing tariffs like the Trump administration.

“It’s wrong to call it a softer touch,” Pomper observed. “I just think [the Biden administration] is going to use more traditional means, at least first.”

Pomper pointed to U.S. advancements related to biotechnology and 5G as some of the “valuable innovation areas that we lead in” and need to protect, but said the United States will not continue to lead them “if we don’t have policies to support them, including a strong patent system at home and strong enforcement on our IP rights abroad.”