As reported previously in this blog, late last year President Bush signed into law, S. 3325, “the Prioritizing Resources and Organization for Intellectual Property (PRO-IP) Act of 2008.”  The bill creates an IP Enforcement Coordinator (IPEC) within the Executive Office of the President.  The IPEC – which is often referred to as the “IP Czar” – is to be appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate. 

Last week, Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy, ranking member Arlen Specter, and Senators Evan Bayh, and George Voinovich – all whom were strong advocates for the PRO-IP bill – sent a letter to President Obama urging him to promptly nominate an IP enforcement coordinator.  Earlier this year the U.S. Chamber of Commerce had drafted a similar letter urging that the IP Czar be appointed within the first 100 days of the Obama Administration.

Late last year and early this year, as is typical in DC, there were rumors swirling about several potential candidates for the position. After two months of mostly silence, those winds seemed to have settled on just a few, with the apparent leading candidates being Victoria Espinel, former assistant trade representative for intellectual property at the office of the U.S. Trade Representative and law professor at George Mason School of Law in Virginia, and Shira Perlmutter, formerly head of the office of Policy and International Affairs at the U.S. Copyright Office and law professor at The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C.

Under the PRO-IP Bill, whomever the new IPEC is will be tasked with drafting a joint strategic plan for combating infringement and counterfeiting, including cooperation with foreign government agencies.  Once the IPEC is confirmed the National Intellectual Property Law Enforcement Coordination Council (NIPLECC) would be abolished and replaced with another interagency advisory committee under the control of the IPEC.