[November 17, 2014]

CAGW Releases New Publication on Intellectual Property

Today, Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) released a new book, Intellectual Property: Making It Personal, co-authored by CAGW President Tom Schatz and Technology and Telecommunications Policy Director Deborah Collier. The book highlights the importance of intellectual property (IP) rights, the value of IP to the nation's economy, and the impact of IP theft from piracy, counterfeiting, and illegal file sharing online. The publication also includes numerous examples of the adverse effect of IP theft on individual innovators and describes new methods to increase the licensing of patents. CAGW will be providing copies of the book at its booth at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's Global Intellectual Property Center Global IP Summit on Tuesday, November 18.

The six chapters in the book are as follows:

Chapter 1: "The Changing Face of Piracy" describes how today's "pirates" operate in the hidden sea of the Internet behind innocuous websites in order to sell counterfeit goods.

Chapter 2: "The Dangers of Counterfeit Drugs" highlights how counterfeit drugs can lead to higher healthcare costs and even death.

Chapter 3: "Music and Movies and Torrents, Oh My" discusses how IP theft adversely affects the creators of music, television shows, and movies as well as its negative economic impact on the communities where movies and television shows are filmed.

Chapter 4: "Trademarks: Iconic Icons" shows how well-known, trademarked products are infringed upon by individual thieves and devalued by numerous governments around the world.

Chapter 5: "Patents: To Create, Perhaps to Use, Perhaps to License, Perhaps to Litigate" describes the history of patents and how innovative methods of patent licensing can help unlock the tremendous value of underutilized patents.

Chapter 6: "Electronics, Software, and National Security: Pulling the Plug on Phony Parts" cites the dangers that fake products pose to the public.

"This book should help taxpayers and consumers better understand that the theft of IP is the theft of someone else's property," said CAGW President Tom Schatz. "Once more individuals understand how IP has such a positive impact on the economy and innovation, fewer people will purchase counterfeit products or illegally share a movie, television show, or music. Strong protection of IP is critical to continued growth of the U.S. and global economy."

Citizens Against Government Waste is the nation's largest nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to eliminating waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement in government.

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