Intellectual Property Protection and Courts Amendments Act of 2004
Public Law 108-482 · H.R. 3632 · 108th Congress · began in the House
Signed by George W. Bush (R) on Dec 23, 2004 · Crime and Law Enforcement
Sponsor: Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX-21)
Cosponsors (6): Rep. Ric Keller, Rep. Robert Wexler,
Passage votes
- HouseVoice vote
- SenateUnanimous consent
Data notes
The final version of the law, as each chamber passed it. A chamber that passed it by voice vote or unanimous consent has no count. “Method not stated” means the record does not say how the chamber voted. Where the record has a member-by-member vote, the “Who voted for it” section shows who voted yea.
Summary
The Congressional Research Service’s plain-language summary of what the law does.
Intellectual Property Protection and Courts Amendments Act of 2004 - Title I: Anti-counterfeiting Provisions - Anti-counterfeiting Amendments Act of 2004 - (Sec. 102) Rewrites Federal criminal code provisions regarding trafficking in counterfeit labels. Prohibits knowingly trafficking in: (1) a counterfeit or illicit label (defined in this Act) affixed to, enclosing, or accompanying, or designed to be affixed to, enclose, or accompany, a phonorecord, a copy of a computer program, motion picture (or other audiovisual work), literary work, or pictorial, graphic, or sculptural work, a work of visual art, or documentation or packaging; or (2) counterfeit documentation or packaging.
Provides for forfeiture or destruction of illicit (as well as counterfeit) labels and of any equipment, device, or material used to manufacture, reproduce, or assemble the counterfeit labels or illicit labels.
Authorizes a copyright owner who is injured, or threatened with injury, by a violation to bring a civil action in U.S. district court. Authorizes the court: (1) to grant temporary or permanent injunctions to prevent or restrain violations; (2) to order the impounding of any article in the alleged violator's custody or control that was involved in a violation; and (3) to award to the injured party reasonable attorney fees and costs, actual damages, and any additional profits of the violator or statutory damages, as specified.
Authorizes: (1) the injured party to elect, at any time before final judgment is rendered, to recover, instead of actual damages and profits an award of statutory damages for each violation in a sum of between $2,500 and $25,000; and (2) the court to increase an award of damages by three times the amount that would otherwise be awarded for a violation occurring within three years after a final judgment was entered for a previous violation. Requires a civil action to be commenced within three years after the the violation is discovered.
(Sec. 103) Declares that this title shall not: (1) affect provisions governing liability under Federal copyright law or fair use of a genuine certificate, licensing document, registration card, similar labeling component, or documentation or packaging; or (2) be construed to apply to the electronic transmission of certificates, licensing documents, registration cards, similar labeling components, or documentation or packaging.
Title II: Fraudulent Online Identity Sanctions - Fraudulent Online Identity Sanctions Act - (Sec. 202) Amends the Trademark Act of 1946 and Federal copyright law to make it a a rebuttable presumption that a trademark violation or copyright infringement was committed willfully for purposes of determining relief if the violator, or a person acting in concert, knowingly provided or caused to be provided materially false contact information to a domain name registration authority in registering, maintaining, or renewing a domain name used in connection with the violation or infringement.
(Sec. 204) Requires the maximum imprisonment otherwise provided for a felony offense to be doubled or increased by seven years, whichever is less, if the defendant knowingly falsely registers and uses a domain name in the course of the offense. Directs the U.S. Sentencing Commission to review and amend the sentencing guidelines with respect to a conviction for the false registration and use of a domain name during the course of a felony.
(Sec. 205) Provides that nothing in this title shall: (1) enlarge or diminish any rights of free speech or of the press for activities related to the registration or use of domain names; and (2) restrict a court's discretion in determining relief to be assessed against a person found liable for intellectual property right infringement, or in determining the appropriate term of imprisonment for an offense under applicable law.
Title III: Courts - (Sec. 301) Amends the Federal judicial code to provide for: (1) an additional place of holding court in the District of Colorado at Colorado Springs; and (2) a place of holding court in the Northern District of New York at Plattsburgh.
Committees
The committees the bill was sent to, and what each did with it.
Judiciary Committee · House · markup by, referred to, reported bySubcommittee: Courts, Intellectual Property, Artificial Intelligence, and the Internet Subcommittee
Data notes
A committee links to its page only where it exists in the current Congress; older and renamed committees are named without a link.
Related bills
2 bills the Library of Congress relates to this one.
Data notes
Related bills are identified by the Congressional Research Service, the House and the Senate: companion and identical bills, bills with similar text, bills that were folded into this law, and rules that brought it to the floor. A bill that is itself a public law in this site’s data links here; the others link to Congress.gov.
Timeline
From introduction to signing, newest first: the committees, the floor and the president. 23 actions.
- Dec 23, 2004Became lawBecame law · Became Public Law No: 108-482.
- Became lawBecame law · Signed by President.
- Dec 16, 2004FloorFloor · Presented to President.
- Dec 9, 2004FloorFloor · Message on Senate action sent to the House.
- Dec 8, 2004FloorFloor · Passed Senate without amendment by Unanimous Consent.
- CommitteeCommittee · Senate Committee on the Judiciary discharged by Unanimous Consent.
- Sep 22, 2004CommitteeCommittee · Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
- Sep 21, 2004FloorFloor · Motion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.
- FloorFloor · On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended Agreed to by voice vote.
- FloorFloor · DEBATE - The House proceeded with forty minutes of debate on H.R. 3632.
- FloorFloor · Considered under suspension of the rules.
- FloorFloor · Mr. Sensenbrenner moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended.
- Jul 13, 2004CalendarCalendar · Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 360.
- CommitteeCommittee · Reported (Amended) by the Committee on Judiciary. H. Rept. 108-600.
- Jun 23, 2004CommitteeCommittee · Ordered to be Reported (Amended) by Voice Vote.
- CommitteeCommittee · Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held.
- Mar 31, 2004CommitteeCommittee · Forwarded by Subcommittee to Full Committee (Amended) by Voice Vote.
- CommitteeCommittee · Subcommittee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held.
- Feb 12, 2004CommitteeCommittee · Subcommittee Hearings Held.
- CommitteeCommittee · Hearings by Courts, Intellectual Property, and the Internet Subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee
- Dec 10, 2003CommitteeCommittee · Referred to the Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet, and Intellectual Property.
- Nov 21, 2003CommitteeCommittee · Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.
- IntroducedIntroduced · Introduced in House
Data notes
Every action the Library of Congress lists for the bill, from introduction to signing, plus the dated committee hearings. The source lists many steps twice (the chamber’s own entry and the Library of Congress copy, or a presidential and a became-law entry with the same words); those are shown once. Amendments are listed in their own section.
Amendments
No amendments to this bill are on record.
Data notes
Amendments offered to this bill in either chamber, as the Library of Congress records them: each with a status read from its last recorded step: agreed to, rejected, withdrawn, ruled out of order, fell with another amendment, or offered with no vote recorded (most Senate amendments are only ever offered). The wording of each amendment is the source’s. Amendments to amendments and amendments to other bills are not listed.
Official record
The bill’s full text is on Congress.gov. Data through Oct 7, 2026.