Customs and Border Protection (CBP) would gain wider authority to share information with trademark and copyright holders when CBP suspects imported goods are counterfeit or otherwise violate intellectual property rights. The bill expands what CBP can share to include images and details of packing materials and containers, not just the product and its packaging. It also lets CBP pass along nonpublic information that came from online marketplaces, freight forwarders, and shipping intermediaries, with notice back to whoever provided that information. The standard for sharing rises slightly, from CBP "suspects" a violation to having "a reasonable suspicion," and the Commissioner gains discretion to share with any other party with an interest in the merchandise.
Corporate Benefits
- Rights-holder access to nonpublic trade data — Marketplace, freight-forwarder, and consignment information shared with IP owners
- Recipient class for shared information — Commissioner may add any other party deemed to have an interest in the merchandise
Transparency & Accountability
- CBP information-sharing authority — Expanded to cover packing materials, containers, and nonpublic third-party data
- Source notification requirement — CBP must notify the marketplace or intermediary whose nonpublic data is transmitted
- Suspicion threshold for sharing — Raised from "suspects" to "reasonable suspicion"
Congressional Summary
This bill expands the authority of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to provide information to certain persons (e.g., trademark or copyright owners) regarding suspected violations of intellectual property rights in trade. Under current law, if CBP suspects that merchandise is being imported in violation of certain trademark and copyright laws, it may request assistance from specified persons when determining whether the merchandise is imported in violation of these laws. To permit the party to conduct examination and testing, CBP must provide them with specified information that appears on the merchandise and its packaging and labels. This bill (1) expands the definition of person to allow CBP to request assistance from any other appropriate party with an interest in the imported merchandise, and (2) expands the scope of information that CBP is authorized to share with others to include information on and images of packing materials and containers.The bill allows CBP to request this assistance if it has a reasonable suspicion (currently, suspects) that the merchandise being imported is in violation of certain trademark and copyright laws.Additionally, CBP may provide a person with nonpublic information about the imported merchandise that was generated by an online marketplace or similar market platform, express consignment operator, freight forwarder, or any other entity that plays a role in the sale, importation, or facilitation of the merchandise into the United States and has been provided to, shared with, or obtained by CBP. CBP must provide the person with notification of the transmitted information.
Legislative Subjects
Details
- Congress
- 119th
- Chamber
- House
- Status
- summarized
- Action
- Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
- Action Date
- 2026-04-28
- Date Added
- 2026-04-24
- Source
- Congress.gov →
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