Andrew Shore addressed TTIP Stakeholders meeting in New York City on behalf of the Owners’ Rights Initiative.
The full comments can be found in a link below the following excerpt.
“My name is Andrew Shore, I am an attorney in Washington, DC who runs a coalition called the Owners’ Rights
Initiative. We are an organization of over 20 companies and trade associations that advocate for the free
alienability copyrighted and trademarked goods. Or, in a more pedestrian way of putting it, we believe that if
you bought, you own it. Before I begin, I would like to thank the negotiators for continuing to make time
available to the public for the presentations. I am here today to discuss the matter of international exhaustion
for trademarked goods, why it needs to be included in TTIP and its direct impact on small and medium sized
enterprises.
Consistent with TTIP’s goal of enhancing trade, our goal is to enhance EU-US trade in legitimate, trademarked
goods. Let me be clear up front what this issue is not about. It’s not about patent and it’s not about copyright.
It is about the lowest hanging fruit of the IP world – trademark – and market access. What our members in both
the US and EU, are asking for is a provision that would allow exports from the US to the EU of trademarked
goods that have been sold in the US by the mark holder or with their consent.”