Victoria Espinel
Encyclopedia
Victoria Angelica Espinel (born October 16, 1968) is the United States Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator for the Office of Management and Budget. She was appointed to the position by Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...

 on September 25, 2009, and her appointment was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on December 3, 2009. Espinel is the first person to fill this position, and is dutied with the development and implementation of the President's overall strategy for the enforcement of intellectual property
Intellectual property
Intellectual property is a term referring to a number of distinct types of creations of the mind for which a set of exclusive rights are recognized—and the corresponding fields of law...

. For this reason, Espinel is popularly termed the "Copyright Czar".

Victoria Espinel holds a Master of Law from the London School of Economics
London School of Economics
The London School of Economics and Political Science is a public research university specialised in the social sciences located in London, United Kingdom, and a constituent college of the federal University of London...

 (earned in 1997), a Juris Doctor
Juris Doctor
Juris Doctor is a professional doctorate and first professional graduate degree in law.The degree was first awarded by Harvard University in the United States in the late 19th century and was created as a modern version of the old European doctor of law degree Juris Doctor (see etymology and...

 from Georgetown University Law School (earned in 1992), and a Bachelor of Science
Bachelor of Science
A Bachelor of Science is an undergraduate academic degree awarded for completed courses that generally last three to five years .-Australia:In Australia, the BSc is a 3 year degree, offered from 1st year on...

 in Foreign Service from the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service (earned in 1989).

Before joining the Office of the US Trade Representative, Espinel was with the law firms of Covington & Burling
Covington & Burling
Covington & Burling LLP is an international law firm with offices in Beijing, Brussels, London, New York, San Francisco, Silicon Valley, San Diego, and Washington, DC. The firm advises multinational corporations on significant transactional, litigation, regulatory, and public policy matters...

 in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

 and Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....

, and Sidley Austin
Sidley Austin
Sidley Austin LLP, formerly known as Sidley Austin Brown & Wood LLP, is one of the oldest law firms in the world. It is the sixth-largest U.S.-based corporate law firm with more than 1,650 lawyers, annual revenues of more than one billion dollars, and offices in 17 cities worldwide, with the most...

 in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

. She also served as an advisor to Romulus Global Issues Management and is a member of the Brain Trust of the Global Innovation Forum.

In 2001, Espinel joined the Office of the US Trade Representative as the senior counsel for intellectual property issues.

In 2005, Espinel was asked to serve as the first Assistant United States Trade Representative for Intellectual Property and Innovation at the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, creating the office of Intellectual Property and Innovation at USTR and serving as the chief U.S. trade negotiator for intellectual property and innovation. While at USTR, she testified on numerous occasions before the House Judiciary Committee and the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.

From 2007 to 2009, Espinel was a Visiting Assistant Professor at the George Mason University
George Mason University
George Mason University is a public university based in unincorporated Fairfax County, Virginia, United States, south of and adjacent to the city of Fairfax. Additional campuses are located nearby in Arlington County, Prince William County, and Loudoun County...

 School of Law. Her areas of teaching and research were intellectual property and international trade. While at George Mason, she acted as an advisor on intellectual property issues to the staff of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Senate Finance Committee, House Judiciary Committee and House Ways and Means Committee.

In 2009, Espinel founded Bridging the Innovation Divide, a not-for-profit foundation focused on addressing the "innovation divide" and empowering all Americans to obtain the full benefit of their creativity and ingenuity.

Career

Espinel was confirmed as the Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator on December 3, 2009. This new position was created by Congress through the PRO-IP Act
PRO-IP Act
The Prioritizing Resources and Organization for Intellectual Property Act of 2008 , is a United States law that increases both civil and criminal penalties for trademark, patent and copyright infringement...

 (Prioritizing Resources and Organization for Intellectual Property Act) of 2008. A hearing to consider President Obama's nomination was held on November 4, 2009. On November 19, 2009, the Judiciary Committee ordered the nomination reported to the Senate for consideration. Espinel received eleven letters of in support of the nomination from related organizations including the MPAA, the Copyright Alliance, and the United States Chamber of Commerce
United States Chamber of Commerce
The United States Chamber of Commerce is an American lobbying group representing the interests of many businesses and trade associations. It is not an agency of the United States government....

. As the IPEC, Espinel has stated she has a singular objective: develop and implement a comprehensive, unified approach to IP enforcement for the U.S. government.

In 2010, Espinel introduced the Joint Strategic Plan to combat intellectual property infringement in an effort to ensure the protection of United States' intellectual property
Intellectual property
Intellectual property is a term referring to a number of distinct types of creations of the mind for which a set of exclusive rights are recognized—and the corresponding fields of law...

. Espinel's plan aims to improve coordination of law enforcement efforts at the Federal, state and local level, thereby heightening intellectual property regulation which is claimed to create jobs in related sectors. Espinel's plan also sets the groundwork for working with trading partners within international organizations to better enforce American intellectual property rights in the global economy. Finally, Espinel's plan aims to ensure intellectual property security over the internet by encouraging industries to work collaboratively to address unlawful cyberspace
Cyberspace
Cyberspace is the electronic medium of computer networks, in which online communication takes place.The term "cyberspace" was first used by the cyberpunk science fiction author William Gibson, though the concept was described somewhat earlier, for example in the Vernor Vinge short story "True...

 activity such as illicit filesharing and illicit online pharmaceutical sales. Espinel's actions have been applauded by copyright
Copyright
Copyright is a legal concept, enacted by most governments, giving the creator of an original work exclusive rights to it, usually for a limited time...

 groups . A report in Wired
Wired (magazine)
Wired is a full-color monthly American magazine and on-line periodical, published since January 1993, that reports on how new and developing technology affects culture, the economy, and politics...

 shows that the new regulations were largely negotiated between various government agencies (including Ms. Espinel and her agency) and industry trade groups, with little or no public oversight, disclosure, or input from non-industry sources.

External links

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