Countries pledge to tackle multi-billion pound intellectual property crime
12 Jun 2014 04:10 PM
A new coalition to tackle counterfeiting, copyright
infringement and other intellectual property crime was launched at the first
International Intellectual Property (IP) Enforcement Summit in London yesterday
(Thursday 12 June).
More than 300 delegates from 30
countries attended the event hosted by the UK government in partnership with
the Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market (OHIM) and the European
Commission.
In his closing speech,
Intellectual Property Minister Lord Younger declared the next 12 months a
‘year of IP enforcement’ as he set out the scale of the
task ahead and highlighted the important steps taken. This included an
international commitment to maintain momentum in tackling IP crime as
a global issue.
Lord Younger
said:
Protecting people and business
from criminal rights infringements is a real priority for me and the government
as a whole. We will be working with our international partners and the
enforcement community in the UK to do just that.
Our regime in the UK is already
world-leading and I am personally committed to developing a programme of
research and action to support this further. The relationships forged at the
summit are a key part of this and are important for ensuring that we can
respond effectively to future challenges.
The activities for the coming
year will include:
- for the fourth year running, the
UK will be the lead partner in Operation Opson the Interpol-Europol coordinated
action to tackle fake food
- the continuing work of the City
of London Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit, funded by the Intellectual
Property Office, to tackle piracy and the sale of counterfeit goods
online
- a review of criminal penalties
for online copyright infringement to assess whether the maximum penalty of 2
years should be brought into line with the 10 year maximum penalty for physical
infringement
- the publication in September
2013 of the UK IP Crime Group’s 9th IPCrime Report is the
widest ranging yet. This will highlight current and emerging threats in
counterfeiting and piracy
- a government review into how
other countries have tackled online copyright enforcement issues, which will be
published in autumn 2014
Delegates agreed to continue to
work in partnership, supporting and strengthening the effectiveness of
governments, enforcement agencies, border authorities and regulators in
tackling IP crime by:
- sharing information and
identifying opportunities to improve enforcement approaches and
frameworks
- sharing and applying best
practice and the most effective tools, techniques and analysis to enhance
detection and deter physical and
online IP infringement
- enhancing public and private
sector cooperation at international borders
Key partners also agreed the
intention to gather again in 2016.
Notes for
Editors
- The International Intellectual
Property Enforcement Summit is a major new event to bring together senior
leaders from the global IP and enforcement community to share
knowledge and best practice.International enforcement
summit 2014 final communiqué. (PDF, 289KB,2
pages)
- It is a joint initiative
developed with the European Commission and the Office for Harmonization in the
Internal Market (OHIM) and will be hosted by the UK Intellectual Property
Office in Central Hall Westminster, London on 11-12 June
2014.
- More than 300 delegates attended
the event ranging from senior UK and international politicians, representatives
from national IP offices and institutions; multinational companies
and brands; IP enforcement policy and operational professions
including customs, Europol and Interpol; UK and international press and media
representatives.
- According to some industry
estimates global piracy could account for as much as $240 billion next year
(2015), adding in counterfeit products and this could rise to over $1
trillion.
- The UK has been ranked number
one in the world for its IP regime in the Taylor Wessing
Global IP Index and number one for enforcement of IP in the
US Chamber of Commerce’s IP Index.
- The UK IPO has
responsibility for developing IP policy and its legal framework.
The IPO does not have any enforcement powers - these reside with the
police, Trading Standards and HMRC. The UK IPO also manages a central
repository of IP intelligence within the UK and coordinates the UK
response to tacking counterfeiting and piracy through the UK IP Crime
Group.
- The IP Crime Group is
a strategic group that brings together industry, enforcement agencies and
government to coordinate best practice and awareness raising activities. The
group works in partnership to find common ground where there are sometimes
conflicting interests and concerns amongst members.
- The annual IP Crime
Report is an example of how the IP Crime Group works together and
summarises the threat posed by IP crime and the activities undertaken
to tackle this. The IP Crime ‘Highlight Report’ for the
Summit, can be accessed at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/ip-crime-highlight-report-2013
-to-2014. This collates key facts and figures from the data collected for
the 2013/14 IP Crime Report. The full report will be published in the
autumn 2014.
- The City of London Police
Intellectual Property Crime Unit (PIPCU) launched in September 2013. It is a
specialist police unit dedicated to protecting the UK industries that produce
legitimate, high quality, physical goods and digital content from intellectual
property crime, with a particular focus to online crime. The unit is based at
the Economic Crime Directorate (ECD) at the City of London Police, the national
police lead for fraud and is initially being funded by the Intellectual
Property Office (IPO).