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ITA Helps Firms Compete: Industry Definition, Product Classification, IP Protections
Sometimes companies in the marine technology industry have difficulty classifying their business in the most appropriate NAICS (North American Industry Classification System) industry code and/or HS (Harmonized System) code for export declarations. At BlueTech Week in San Diego, November 7-8, 2018, experts from ITA, the U.S. Navy, Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) combined forces to advise participating companies on how to best classify their business and products.
Marine Technology is a relatively young industry. Entrepreneurs innovate new products and services at a rapid pace. As a result, it may be difficult for them to identify their business under the NAICS code that best describes what they do. Industry codes like NAICS are used by governments to determine eligibility for procurement opportunities. Choosing the wrong HC code can result in customs disputes in export markets. Moreover, industry and product codes are used by economists and government agencies to identify and quantify the size of industries and subsectors. Miss-identification results in less reliable information for investors that innovative companies rely upon to grow their businesses.
The federal experts from ITA, BLS. Navy, and NOAA did more than help companies with industry and product classification questions. They referred BlueTech week participants to members of the Marine Technology Global Team led by the Commercial Service in ITA's Global Markets unit staffed a table next to the classification table. ITA staff also referred interested companies to other resources like Small Business Administration export finance tools. One tool offered by ITA got tailored for the Marine Technology industry. Protecting Intellectual Property in Export Markets: Marine Technology, is a new version of a brochure published by the Office of Intellectual Property Rights in ITA's Industry & Analysis unit. Given the high level of innovation that characterizes this industry, protecting intellectual property is key to being able to compete and remain globally relevant. |
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Read more about TMA BlueTech's MDCP project.
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