This Week in Washington IP: Name, Image, Likeness Rights for College Athletes; Regulating Cryptocurrencies; and Recapping the U.S.-EU Trade and Technology Council

This week in Washington IP events, the House Consumer Protection Subcommittee within the Energy & Commerce Committee will explore the rapidly expanding landscape for name, image, and likeness (NIL) rights for college athletes, while the Consumer Protection Subcommittee within the House Committee on Financial Services takes a look at technologies that are reshaping the U.S. banking system. The Senate Commerce Committee will also convene a hearing this week looking at consumer data privacy, especially the $1 billion earmarked in the $3.5 trillion House spending plan for the creation of a privacy bureau within the Federal Trade Commission. Elsewhere, The Brookings Institution hosts a discussion on regulating cryptocurrencies, the USPTO gives its second quarterly update on developments in Chinese IP Law, and the Center for Strategic & International Studies closes the week with a recap of developments during the inaugural U.S.-EU Trade and Technology Council scheduled for this week.

Wednesday, September 29

House Subcommittee on Consumer Protection and Financial Institutions

The Future of Banking: How Consolidation, Nonbank Competition, and Technology are Reshaping the Banking System

At 10:00 AM on Wednesday in 2128 Rayburn House Office Building.

On Wednesday morning, the House Consumer Protection Subcommittee will convene a hearing to explore various changes to the U.S. financial system in recent decades, including the advent of financial technologies and the fintech sector. Along with mobile banking services, many institutions are incorporating artificial intelligence systems for detecting fraud and engaging with bank customers, although concerns over unpredictability in AI results or algorithms reinforcing human biases remain. The witness panel for this hearing will include Paulina Gonzalez-Brito, Executive Director, California Reinvestment Coalition; Makada Henry-Nickie, Robert and Virginia Hartley Fellow, Governance Studies, The Brookings Institution; Sarah Jane Hughes, University Scholar and Fellow in Commercial Law, Indiana University School of Law; Desiree Jackson, Assistant Vice President for Treasury Management, Beneficial State Bank; and Jim Reuter, CEO, FirstBank on behalf of American Bankers Association.

House Committee on Science, Space, & Technology

Members’ Day Hearing

At 10:00 AM on Wednesday, online video webinar.

The House Science Committee will hold its Members’ Day Hearing on Wednesday morning, during which individual members of the committee will discuss their personal legislative priorities for the year. Prominent members of this committee include Committee Chair Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX), Ranking Member Frank Lucas (R-OK) and Representative Zoe Lofgren (D-CA).

Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

Protecting Consumer Privacy

At 10:30 AM on Wednesday in 253 Russell Senate Office Building.

Among the many items to be addressed by the $3.5 trillion spending measure which the Democrats are trying to pass through the House of Representatives is $1 billion in funding for the creation of a new privacy bureau within the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). The bureau would be responsible for addressing consumer issues including identity theft, data security and abuses of personal data, adding to the FTC’s oversight of Big Tech which has been ramping up during the Biden Administration. The witness panel for this hearing will include David Vladeck, Professor and Faculty Director, Center on Privacy and Technology, Georgetown Law, and Former Director, Bureau of Consumer Protection, FTC; Morgan Reed, President, The App Association; Maureen Ohlhausen, Partner and Section Chair (Antitrust), Baker Botts, and Former Acting Chairwoman, FTC; and Ashkan Soltani, Independent Research and Technologist, and Former Chief Technologist, FTC.

U.S. Patent and Trademark Office 

Women Athletes Inspiring Your Entrepreneurship & IP Journey

At 2:00 PM on Wednesday, online video webinar.

This event, coordinated by the USPTO Texas Regional Office in collaboration with the Texas Chapter of Chiefs in Intellectual Property (ChIPs), offers stories of women athletes who went on to have business success after leaving their sports careers as well as discussion about how crucial intellectual property rights were to the success of their businesses. This event will feature a panel including Ally Davidson, Founder, Camp Gladiator; Dana (Rywelski) Wildeboer, Senior Director of Marketing, MassChallenge; Corey Jackson, Personal Trainer and Nutrition Coach, Clear Path Fitness; and moderated by Hope Shimabuku, Director, USPTO Texas Regional Office.

Center of Strategic & International Studies

Exploring the Applications of Facial Recognition Technology

At 3:00 PM on Wednesday, online video webinar.

Facial recognition technologies are finding more applications in the commercial and government sectors as newer systems become better at matching images than their human counterparts. Privacy advocates continue to raise concerns, however, regarding the ability for state or corporate surveillance destroying individual privacy. This event will feature a discussion with a panel including Diane Sabatino, Deputy Assistant Executive Commissioner, U.S. Customs and Border Protection; Jake Parker, Senior Director of Government Relations, Security Industry Association; John Boyd, Assistant Director, Office of Biometric Identity Management, U.S. Department of Homeland Security; and James Andrew Lewis, Senior Vice President and Director, Strategic Technologies Program, CSIS.

Thursday, September 30

House Subcommittee on Consumer Protection and Commerce

A Level Playing Field: College Athletes’ Rights to Their Name, Image, and Likeness

At 10:30 AM on Thursday in 2123 Rayburn.

This June, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) adopted a temporary rule allowing for member schools to set their own policies regarding name, image, and likeness (NIL) rights for collegiate athletes after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against the NCAA’s argument that its academic mission should allow it to escape antitrust liability for restricting athletes from exercising their NIL rights. The witness panel for this hearing has yet to be announced.

The Brookings Institution

Regulating Cryptocurrencies and Future Technologies: A Conversation with Manuel P. Alvarez

At 12:00 PM on Thursday, online video webinar.

Cryptocurrencies are increasingly on the minds of financial system regulators across the globe, but there is much confusion over how centralized financial institutions can best make use of decentralized ledger technologies. This event, part of the Reimagining Modern-day Markets and Regulations series hosted by The Brookings Institution’s Center on Regulation and Markets, will feature a discussion with Manuel P. Alvarez, Managing Principal, BridgeCounsel Strategies LLC. Formerly, Alvarez has also served as Commissioner of the California Department of Business Oversight, as well as General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer of fintech firm Affirm, Inc. Moderating the discussion will be Loni Mahanta, Nonresident Fellow, Economic Studies, Center on Regulation and Markets.

U.S. Patent and Trademark Office

China IP: Quarterly Legislation and Case Law Update

At 1:00 PM on Thursday, online video webinar.

This event is the second quarterly update given by the USPTO regarding developments in Chinese intellectual property law, both in terms of legislation and court decisions, including information on new legal standards in patent, trademark, copyright, trade secrets and IP enforcement.

Friday, October 1

Center for Strategic & International Studies

Inaugural US-EU Trade and Technology Council Meeting Recap

At 9:00 AM on Friday, online video webinar.

From September 29 to 30, high ranking officials from both the United States and the European Union will meet in Pittsburgh, PA, for the first-ever meeting of the US-EU Trade and Technology Council. The organization is composed of 10 working groups focused on specific policy areas of importance to both the U.S. and the EU, including semiconductor fabrication, pharmaceutical supply chains and technology for mitigating climate change. This event, which will focus on policy developments taking place over the two-day conference, will feature a discussion with a panel including Cecilia Malmström, Nonresident Senior Fellow, Peterson Institute for International Economics; Robert D. Atkinson, President, Information Technology & Innovation Foundation; Melissa K. Griffith, Senior Program Associate, Wilson Center, and Adjunct Professor, Center for Security Studies, Georgetown University; Bill Reinsch, Senior Advisor and Scholl Chair in International Business, CSIS; and Meredith Broadbent, Senior Advisor (Nonresident), CSIS.