Intellectual Property Rights protection was the main point of discussion for multiple organizations this week around the globe.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and Interpol have created a partnership to combat counterfeiting and piracy. The goals of the partnership are to create a new crime unit dedicated to international enforcement, combat criminal activity linked to the theft of intellectual property and improve the exchange of information on counterfeiting and piracy crimes.
Interpol to work to collect intelligence from businesses and its member countries so the data can be better analyzed and piracy trends can be identified. This will also allow Interpol to increase the number of staff dedicated to researching counterfeiting and piracy, which will eventually lead to a full time anti-counterfeiting and piracy task force.
The Chamber of Commerce has made a long-term financial commitment to this multi-year partnership.
Since the early 1990s, trade in counterfeits has grown at eight times the speed of legitimate trade, according to Interpol.
The Russian Minister of Economic Development and Trade will continue bilateral talks with the U.S. on Russia’s joining of the World Trade Organization (WTO), focusing on the protection of intellectual property in Russia. A document is currently being drafted, which should be signed soon.
The issue of IP protection is in the multi-million dollar range, according to the Russian Minister, German Gref. However, Gref recognizes that this issue relates to other trade problems, whose values can be worth billions.
“This is not a very pragmatic, but rather politicized stand, and other American colleagues admit it,” Gref said.
According to Gref, his counterparts from the EU membership helped Russian during bilateral talks with the U.S. on joining the WTO.