US officials begin Asian tour on IPR and counterfeiting

12 April 2005 21:31  [Source: ICIS news]

WASHINGTON (CNI)--US officials from six federal agencies began a tour of Asian countries Tuesday in yet another effort to stem piracy and counterfeiting of US products, US Department of Commerce (DoC) officials said today.

 

US chemicals and plastic resins are among products most frequently pirated or counterfeited, according to US government officials and trade experts at the US Chamber of Commerce.  In one infamous case, a US chemical company’s entire production facility in China was copied and its process technology stolen.

 

In addition to two ranking officials from DoC, the delegation includes officials from the office of the US Trade Representative (USTR), the US Patent & Trademark Office, the US Customs Office, the Department of Justice (DoJ), State Department and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

 

They are visiting China, Japan, Korea and Singapore through this week, DoC said, to urge governments and the private sectors in those US trading partners “to crack down on global piracy and counterfeiting.”

 

The official tour is part of the federal government’s newly launched “Strategy Targeting Organized Piracy” or STOP, which is designed to “deepen cooperative enforcement efforts and to work toward coordinated international solutions to stop trade in fake goods,” DoC said.

 

In meetings with trade officials in the four countries, said DoC, the US delegation will “share proposals designed to make it easier for businesses to register and protect their brands in overseas markets by standardizing trademark registration and to raise the stakes for global pirates and counterfeiting by improving law enforcement methods and cooperation.”

 

The US delegation also will seek to raise the level of investigation and prosecution of money-laundering crimes associated with international trade in bogus products, the department said.

 

Launched in October last year, the STOP programme also has a Web site devoted to intellectual property rights (IPR) and their protection: www.stopfakes.gov

 

A DoC spokesman said Tuesday he was unsure whether the delegation would seek new policy statements from the host governments concerning piracy and counterfeiting of US products and technology.

 

Also today, a spokesman for the private-sector US Chamber of Commerce (USCoC) applauded the federal government’s effort, saying that “without concerted enforcement action, counterfeiting and piracy will only get worse.”

 

The USCoC said the annual global trade in illegitimate goods has risen from $5.5bn (Euro4.25bn) in 1982 to some $600bn today.  The chamber also noted that “there is strong evidence to suggest that organized criminal groups and terrorist organizations are involved in counterfeiting and piracy schemes.”

By: Joe Kamalick
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