It is my privilege and honor to be here in beautiful Mexico City to witness the signing of this historic MOU between the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and Mexican Institute of Industrial Property.

Congratulations to everyone who negotiated this agreement. It took vision, dedication, and hard work to get to this point, and you should be extremely proud of this final product. It will strengthen both of our nations. Thank you, Andrei, for your leadership on this agreement, and for your unwavering commitment to protecting the most important asset of all: intellectual property.

Individuals who patent inventions need to be encouraged and protected, wherever they live, especially in today’s global economy. We can no longer allow for the wanton stealing of intellectual property.  Intellectual property theft, counterfeits, and fakes discourage further invention and the advancement of mankind.

Tomorrow, I will witness the USMCA signing at the White House. This agreement will be extremely beneficial to Mexico. It will support your growing class of scientists and engineers who have been instrumental in making Mexico a world-class manufacturing center. USMCA will enable the owners of proprietary technologies to protect their IP assets. It provides them with the freedom to produce or license their products and processes to partners in both the United States and Mexico. Along with the USMCA, this MOU goes a long way toward cementing our economic ties through increased cooperation between our nations’ patent offices. 

What we are doing here today is a lasting legacy of your efforts. We should all be so proud of what this means to future American and Mexican inventors. They will be so much more successful and will be forever grateful for what you have done here today.

For those of you from the Mexican government, thank you for hosting this event, and for your dedication to our alliance. Thank you.