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HR 6012
Introduced Re-checks Congress.gov for new actions and updates the bill's status, and fills in any sponsors, committees, or related bills that are missing. It does not re-pull sponsors/cosponsors/committees/related — those rarely change — and it skips all work if nothing has changed upstream, so it's cheap to click.

To authorize the Secretary of Homeland Security to provide to owners of certain intellectual property rights information on, and unredacted samples and images of, semiconductor chip products suspected of being imported in violation of the rights of the owner of a registered mark or the owner of a mask work.

To authorize the Secretary of Homeland Security to provide to owners of certain intellectual property rights information on, and unredacted samples and images of, semiconductor chip products suspected of being imported in violation of the rights of the owner of a registered mark or the owner of a mask work.

Introduced Jun 21, 2012

Latest action (Jul 11, 2012) Referred to the Subcommittee on Intellectual Property, Competition and the Internet.

Referred to
Judiciary Committee Over-Criminalization Task Force Subcommittee
Policy area
Crime and Law Enforcement
Issues
Criminal Justice

Summary

This bill authorizes the Secretary of Homeland Security to share information with trademark holders and semiconductor chip mask work owners about imported semiconductor chip products suspected of being counterfeit or in violation of intellectual property rights. The Secretary is permitted to provide unredacted photographs, digital images, and samples of suspected counterfeit semiconductor chip products, including their packaging and labels, to intellectual property rights holders, unless sharing would compromise an ongoing law enforcement investigation or national security. When a semiconductor chip product is detained at the border, the Secretary is required to share this information with the relevant trademark holder or mask work owner. The bill clarifies that providing this information to intellectual property rights holders does not violate federal confidentiality laws. The authorization applies to products suspected of violating trademark rights under the Lanham Act or the exclusive rights of semiconductor chip mask work owners under federal copyright law.

AI-generated plain-language summary of the bill text — neutral, and may be imperfect. See the full text below for the exact wording.

Sponsor (1)
29 cosponsors

Money behind the sponsor

Top reported contributors to Michael T. Mccaul’s campaign committee (2024 cycle) — who funds the bill’s sponsor, not a claim about this bill. Data from FEC.

  • NULL $83,650
  • AXXESS $16,600
  • PAUL WEISS $13,200
  • LANIER LAW FIRM $13,200
  • BGR GROUP $11,500

Organizations whose employees gave the most — itemized individual contributions grouped by the donor’s reported employer (FEC Schedule A). Full finance for Michael T. Mccaul → · Outside spending →

Actions (3)
  1. Jul 11, 2012 Referred to the Subcommittee on Intellectual Property, Competition and the Internet. · house
  2. Jun 21, 2012 Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary. · house
  3. Jun 21, 2012 Introduced in House

Similar bills (6)

Bills with similar text or summary — includes reintroductions across Congresses. Ranked by semantic similarity of the bill text (computed locally); a neutral discovery aid, not a claim the bills are duplicates.

  • HR 5069 — Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology Enhancement Act of 2004 · Introduced Sep 17, 2004 · Cong. 108 70%
  • HR 5068 — Department of Homeland Security Cybersecurity Enhancement Act of 2004 · Introduced Sep 24, 2004 · Cong. 108 67%
  • HR 4930 — Homeland Security Information Sharing and Analysis Enhancement Act of 2004 · Introduced Aug 2, 2004 · Cong. 108 65%
  • HR 4176 — No Secret Police Act of 2025 · Introduced Jun 27, 2025 · Cong. 119 65%
  • HRES 815 — Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that immigration enforcement operations must be transparent, accountable, and consistent with constitutional protections for all persons within the United States. · Introduced Oct 17, 2025 · Cong. 119 65%
  • HR 2526 — Restoration of Freedom of Information Act of 2003 · Introduced Jul 2, 2003 · Cong. 108 64%

Full text

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

June 21, 2012

Mr. McCaul (for himself, Mr. McKeon, Mr. Keating, Mr. Jones, Mr. Brooks, Mr. Chaffetz, Mr. Coffman of Colorado, Ms. Bonamici, Mr. Long, Mr. Honda, Mr. Gallegly, and Mr. Heinrich) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

A BILL

To authorize the Secretary of Homeland Security to provide to owners of certain intellectual property rights information on, and unredacted samples and images of, semiconductor chip products suspected of being imported in violation of the rights of the owner of a registered mark or the owner of a mask work.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. PROVISION OF INFORMATION AND UNREDACTED SAMPLES.

(a) In General.—Section 1905 of title 18, United States Code, is amended—

(1) by striking “Whoever” and inserting “(a) Restrictions.—Whoever”; and

(2) by adding at the end the following:

“(b) Treatment of Semiconductor Chip Products.—

“(1) Semiconductor chip products.—For purposes of determining whether semiconductor chip products are being imported into the United States in violation of section 42 of the Lanham Act or in violation of any of the exclusive rights of the owner of a mask work under chapter 9 of title 17, upon presentation the Secretary of Homeland Security (except in such cases as would compromise an ongoing law enforcement investigation or would compromise national security)—

“(A) may, and upon detention shall, share with the holder of the registered mark or the owner of the mask work, as the case may be, information on the semiconductor chip products and their packaging and labels, including unredacted photographs or digital images of such products, packaging, and labels; and

“(B) may, at any time, subject to any applicable bonding requirements, supply unredacted samples of such products to such holder of the registered mark or owner of the mask work.

“(2) Action not a violation.—Actions by the Secretary of Homeland Security in accordance with paragraph (1) shall not be a violation of subsection (a).

“(c) Definitions.—As used in this section—

“(1) the term ‘Lanham Act’ has the meaning given that term in section 2320(e) of this title;

“(2) the terms ‘mask work’ and ‘semiconductor chip product’ have the meanings given those terms in section 901 of title 17;

“(3) the term ‘registered mark’ has the meaning given that term in section 45 of the Lanham Act (15 U.S.C. 1127); and

“(4) the term ‘unredacted’ means without removing, revising, or otherwise obscuring any information or markings appearing on a product or its retail packaging.”.

(b) Effective Date.—The amendments made by subsection (a) shall take effect on the date of the enactment of this Act. <all>

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