Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) today officially christened the panel, which will have jurisdiction over copyright, trademark and patent law, as well as treaties intended to protect American intellectual property overseas. T
he mounting dangers that piracy poses to the U.S. economy helped spur the move, Specter said after the announcement. "It’s a big, tough subject. We lose billions each year. We have a national treasure named Orrin Hatch who is happy to take over the subcommittee, and I was happy to establish it," Specter said.
Given the full slate of non-copyright issues before the full Judiciary Committee, the new panel will help keep intellectual property issues on the front burner, said Mitch Glazier, the Recording Industry Association of America’s senior vice president of government and industry relations.
