Copy catcher.

Jon Dudas is a busy man these days. The US. Undersecretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office, Dudas works to get businesses around the world to stop pirating US. goods and intellectual property [IP]. Intellectual theft has gone way beyond burning U.S. movies and software onto compact discs. In China, some factories are copying entire automobiles, and ineffective drug knock-offs are a rising health threat. While in charge of getting US. businesses to protect themselves, Dudas also sends envoys around the globe to discourage piracy. Dudas spoke with LATIN TRADE News Editor Forrest Jones about free trade, economics and industrial-scale fakery.

Can the use of pirated goods be good for an economy?

I think that there is a very shortsighted view that would say 'We can make money today if we copy and steal and counterfeit goods.' The long-term view is that economies only grow when you protect intellectual property. Companies just can't grow in an environment where they don't protect IP. China is an example where 97% of the cases that go to criminal court are Chinese on Chinese. Their own economy is being strangled. Their own growth for small business is being strangled because they don't protect their IP as strongly as they should.

In the Americas, is there any one country that does a good job at this?

There are issues with a variety of different countries and different issues on each one, but the head of the office in Mexico, Jorge Amigo, has been a real strong advocate of intellectual property protection and at the World Intellectual Property Organization has been a voice for working to help develop intellectual property.

Polls in the region say the U.S. government is not very popular right now. Do you think sending attaches is going to hurt that reputation?

To the contrary, I think it's going to strengthen it. What you have are experts in that country--IP experts--and we not only go in and tell folks where we think there are problems, but we also offer all kinds of assistance. Brazil is a great example. Often, where Brazil and the United States will often disagree on a certain topic, I've met with the head of the Brazilian office and he has asked for technical expertise on how we can help their office learn from the mistakes we have made in the U.S. and where we've had success. So we've worked with them on electronic processing and on electronic filing. Attaches are actually our bridge that can help with technical assistance and just keep relations good. So far it's been nothing but a strength-building exercise.

How bad is the problem in Latin America compared with other regions?

With the region as a whole, there are significant issues with intellectual property. The largest producer by far right now is China, and where we see the biggest problem right now is China. We also see that Russia is a net exporter of pirated goods--DVDs and CDs. In South America, you don't see quite the volume, but what you do see is such opportunity. And if intellectual property in South America were protected at a stronger rate--and that's again why the DR-Cafta [free trade agreement] has strong intellectual property provisions--if they protect at a stronger rate, we'll see growth in South America and in Central America, and it will also benefit U.S. companies that want to do business there.

What is the real impact of monitors?

They'll deal with government and they'll deal with business. Their job is to know intellectual property and the region. So one thing that they'll be able to do is they can sit in on government meetings within that country, and they can be a liaison with the whole team we have back in the U.S. We've got 50 people in our international relations area, and they can let us know what more we need to do.

Are there any sectors of the economy that may be at more risk than others?

Almost every sector really is at risk. We see at this point--what traditionally had been pharmaceuticals, what traditionally had been luxury goods--now you find boat gauges, you find cigarettes and tennis shoes. Because there are some economies that have been based on copying, any product they can find just by searching the Internet has been covered. Entire cars. There's a car that's being produced in China that's identical to a GM car except it doesn't have an airbag. I think the back handle's about 11 millimeters moved back but other than that it's an identical car.

Incredible. How do they get parts for all that?

They make them there. They've got an entire factory. See, that's the difference from what used to be a fly-by-night, move-around [operation]. Now people are willing to invest in an entire factory.