IDFA, along with 24 organizations, submitted a letter to Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, and Secretary of Commerce, Wilbur Ross, to express support for robust, coordinated U.S. government effort to promote American innovation and intellectual property. Specifically, IDFA applauds U.S. efforts of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s Intellectual Property attachés working in embassies around the world. Furthermore, the letter endorses an elevation in rank for the attachés, so they can better advocate for U.S. economic and foreign policy interests. IDFA stands in solidarity on this issue with many other associations such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, National Association of Manufacturers, Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America and more.

This issue is particularly important to the dairy industry because the European Union (EU) is actively trying to expand geographical indication rules under the guise of intellectual property and claw back common names such as parmesan, feta, and asiago.

"We view these efforts by the EU to ban our food producers from using several important names that have long been generic internationally and in the U.S. market as de facto barriers to trade," said Beth Hughes, IDFA senior director of international affairs. "The work of PTO's intellectual property attaches is critical so U.S. cheese exporters can continue to sell their product overseas."

For more information, please contact Beth Hughes.