Earlier this month, Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division represented the U.S Department of Justice as a keynote speaker at the 5th International Law Enforcement Intellectual Property (IP) Crime Conference in Madrid, hosted by INTERPOL, EUROPOL, and the Cuerpo Nacional de Policia. Breuer joined China, Ghana, Nigeria, Canada, Chile, Sweden and other countries to discuss solution-driven proposals to IP crime enforcement at the conference, which brought together more than 400 law enforcement and customs personnel from more than 50 countries.
Criminals manufacture and distribute counterfeit and pirated goods across the globe. While advances in technology bring our world closer together, those same advances allow those who would commit intellectual property crimes to operate globally without ever needing to leave their homes.
Assistant Attorney General Breuer spoke about the importance of devoting time and effort toward IP crime and raising global awareness about its harmful consequences:
“Counterfeit pharmaceuticals, counterfeit automotive and defense-industry parts, and other counterfeit consumer products can cause serious harm to people and endanger their lives; and . . . companies whose trade secrets are stolen or whose goods are counterfeited may be forced to downsize or go out of business, costing individuals their jobs. Nevertheless, the public perception at times persists that IP crime is victimless. It is therefore one of our important duties here this week to spread the message about the significant, and very real, costs of IP crime.”
