ENFORCEMENT

Joint Strategic Plan on Intellectual Property Enforcement
SECTION 2
some time, but the application is now shifting rapidly
to the direct production of parts that are ready for
distribution and sale. 85
Reports indicate that manufacturing leaders may not
be fully prepared for a projected rapid migration toward
additive technology. 86 As a GAO report has summarized,
3D printing poses far-reaching implications for businesses,
consumers, and policymakers on a wide array of issues,
including on grounds of national security, product liability,
IP, and environmental, health, and safety concerns. 87
With respect to IP, one of the primary concerns is that
as scanning and 3D printing technology improves and
proliferates, the digital design files that support 3D
printing will be widely shared on the Internet. Sharing
design files may help researchers and legitimate uses
such as open licenses, however there is some concern
that it would make it easier for entities to bypass and
infringe upon valid utility and design patents, copyrights,
and trademarks. 88
The challenge for all stakeholders is to ensure
that 3D printing’s potential is realized in a manner
that contributes positively to innovation and that
protects non-infringing uses without providing new and
troubling avenues for counterfeiters and bad actors
to further evolve their illicit trade practices. Publicprivate
partnerships can play a critical role in ensuring
that appropriate IP protections do not lag behind 3D
printing technological advances. Exploring how to apply
IP laws, including patents, copyrights, and trademarks,
or utilizing technological solutions to curb the abuse of
3D printing within software sharing communities and
platforms, would help to ensure that this new emerging
technology will be integrated into the economy while
protecting against its exploitation by illicit actors. 89
ACTION NO. 2.24: Support responsible
integration of 3D printing into manufacturing
and business practices. The U.S. Interagency
Strategic Planning Committees on IP Enforcement
will continue to monitor the integration of 3D
printing into responsible manufacturing and
business practices, including assessing the
sufficiency of current laws, implementation of
those laws in practice, and the state of, and
challenges associated with, the prosecution of
IP-based crimes involving 3D printing, while
protecting non-infringing uses of the technology.
E. ADDRESS CYBER-ENABLED TRADE SECRET THEFT.
Cybersecurity is one of the most important challenges
we face as a Nation. Malicious actors, whether they are
criminals, terrorists, or nation state actors, can ignore
traditional national borders and conduct their malicious
cyber activities from afar. As more data that is sensitive
is stored online, the potential consequences of such
attacks are only growing more significant. U.S. businesses
and academic institutions are increasingly targeted
for economic espionage and theft of trade secrets by
foreign entities. With the increasing connectivity of our
businesses and academic institutions, there is a greater
change that these malicious actors will use cyber-enabled
means to steal trade secrets or other confidential business
information. Gone are the days when a spy needed
physical access to a document to steal it, copy it, or
photograph it; modern technology now enables global
access and transmission instantaneously.
Due to the profound implications of cybersecurity
and cyber-enabled trade secret theft to the Nation,
the Federal Government has been aggressive in
meeting these threats head-on. The United States
must lead international efforts to build consensus on
conceptions of responsible state behavior in order to
enhance international cyber stability by reducing the
risk of escalation posed by national security threats
– including threats to economic security – emanating
from cyberspace. The identification and promotion
of voluntary, peacetime norms of responsible state
behavior in cyberspace is one pillar of the United
States’ framework for stability, which also includes the
affirmation of the applicability of international law to
cyberspace, and the development and implementation
of practical confidence building measures. One norm
the United States has identified is that states should
not conduct or knowingly support cyber-enabled theft
of intellectual property, including trade secrets or other
confidential business information, with the intent of
providing competitive advantages to its companies or
commercial sectors.
In the context of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s
September 2015 visit to Washington, the United States
and China made a series of cyber commitments, including
that neither state would engage in the cyber-enabled
theft of intellectual property for commercial gain. Building
on the commitment, the United States successfully
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