The Department of Justice and other agencies are continually working to improve protections for intellectual property rights and the enforcement of intellectual property laws. You can find information on DOJ initiatives, summits, and speeches in this section. This section also contains information on U.S. interagency efforts, such as NIPLECC, as well as international efforts to protect intellectual property rights.
On June 20, 2006, the Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales highlighted the results of the Progress Report of the Intellectual Property Task Force. At a speech before the United States Chamber of Commerce's Coalition Against Counterfeiting and Piracy program today, he announced that the Task Force has fully implemented all 31 recommendations contained in its 2004 report, and in some cases, went well beyond those recommendations.
On April 21, 2004 David M. Israelite, Chairman of the Justice Department’s Intellectual Property Task Force, announced the names of those who will join him in serving on the task force, which was created by Attorney General John Ashcroft to examine all aspects of how the Department of Justice handles intellectual property issues and to develop recommendations for future efforts.
On March 9, 2004 Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales announced the continuation of the Justice Department's Task Force on Intellectual Property and renewed the Department's commitment to aggressively enforce intellectual property laws. The Attorney General also named Kyle Sampson, Deputy Chief of Staff and Counselor to the Attorney General, as the new Chairman of the Task Force. Federal prosecutor Arif Alikhan was named Vice Chairman and Executive Director
These annual statistics contain summaries of available copyright and trademark statistics, segregated by statutory provision and preceded by a brief description of each offense. Also included are summaries of the overall totals and totals associated with matters and cases referred by the U.S. Customs Service to the U.S. Attorneys. Read the statistics via the link below. These statistics are part of the Attorney General's Annual Report, which can be found via the link below.
The Attorney General spoke on the subject of protecting intellectual property, and the 2006 Progress Report from the Department's Intellectual Property Task Force.
On June 14, 2005, Deputy Assistant Attorney General Laura Parsky testified on the Prosecution of Intellectual Property Crimes and the "STOP!" Initiative before the Subcommittee on Oversight of Government Management, the Federal Workforce, and the District of Columbia Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, United States Senate.
On October 14, 2004, Deputy Assistant Attorney General Laura Parsky gave remarks at a conference entitled "The Major Challenges of Intellectual Property Protection" in Rome, Italy
On March 13, 2003, Deputy Assistant Attorney General John G. Malcolm testified before the Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet, and Intellectual Property of the House Committee on the Judiciary. In his testimony, Mr. Malcolm offered the views of the Justice Department on the links among intellectual property piracy, organized crime and terrorism.
The Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) Training Database website is designed to provide information regarding international IPR training in coordination with the IPR Training Coordination Group, a group compromised of several United States Government agencies and industry associations involved in intellectual property rights enforcement.
On July 23, 1999, the Department of Justice, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the U.S. Customs service announced the establishment of a law enforcement initiative aimed at combating the growing challenge of piracy and counterfeiting of intellectual property, both domestically and internationally. "At the same time that our information economy is soaring, so is intellectual property theft," said Deputy Attorney General Eric Holder. "We are here to send the message that those who steal our intellectual property will be prosecuted. This is theft, pure and simple." Mr. Holder's remarks and a press release describing the announcement of the initiative may be accessed via the links below:
On December 25, 2000, Attorney General Reno's article on The Threat of Digital Theft: Intellectual property theft is faster, costlier and more dangerous than ever" appeared in theStandard.com. In the article, Ms. Reno discussed law enforcement concerns about intellectual property theft, and discussed recent law enforcement efforts to combat the problem, including the Intellectual Property Initiative, launched in July 1999.
On September 12, 2000, Attorney General Janet Reno spoke before the Symposium of the Americas on Protecting Intellectual Property Rights in the Digital Age. In her speech, Ms. Reno discussed the international aspects of IP crime, and the various law enforcement components to protecting IP rights.
On January 12, 2000, Deputy Attorney General Eric H. Holder, Jr. spoke at the High-Tech Crime Summit in Washington, DC. In his speech, Mr. Holder presented an overview of the challenges that law enforcement faces in the Information Age and he outlined some of the specific steps that the Department of Justice is taking to combat high-tech crime, particularly crime involving the theft of intellectual property.
DOJ Supports Law Enforcement Cooperation Within the Single Market to Combat Growing Intellectual Property Crime --
In March, 1999 testimony before the European Commission's Munich forum in response to its Green Paper on "Combatting Counerfeiting and Piracy in the Single Market," the Department of Justice said that it is vital to promote cooperation within the Single Market and among other sovereigns to combat the growing threat of IP crime. The Criminal Division's Special Counsel for Intellectual Property, Roslyn A. Mazer, stated that such cooperation is vital in making the determination that merchandise is counterfeit; dealing with contraband entering the Single Market from non-EU countries; and obtaining information from non-Member states and from non-EU nationals. She said the isolated efforts of individual member states, industries, or companies will " be feeble against 21st century IP crime."
DOJ Presents Challenges and Responses to the Threat of Digital Piracy --
In remarks delivered to the European Institute's November 1998 conference on "Intellectual Property Protection in the Digital Age," the Department of Justice identified the reasons why intellectual property crime has grown more serious and more attractive to organized criminal syndicates. Roslyn A Mazer, Special Counsel for Intellectual Property. Criminal Division, summarized the Department of Justice efforts, as well as those of other law enforcement agencies, to provide investigative and prosecutorial training, support needed legislative amendments, and engage foreign counterparts in the fight against piracy and counterfeiting. This speech was published in European Institute, "Intellectual Property Protection in the Digital Age," in 1999.
On September 11, 2000, the Department of Justice filed an amicus curiae brief in the case of A & M Records, Inc. v. Napster, Inc. solely on the issue of whether Section 1008 of the Audio Home Recording Act of 1992, 17 U.S.C. §1008, excuses Napster from liability for copyright infringement. A copy of that brief is accessible via the link below:
On February 20, 2000, the Department of Justice filed an a brief as an intervenor in the case of Universal City Studios, Inc. v. Corely, on appeal from Universal City Studios, Inc. v. Reimerdes, 82 F. Supp. 2d 211 (S.D.N.Y. 2000), on three issues:
A copy of that brief is accessible via the link below:
On October 3, 2000, Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Division Patricia Maher testified before the House Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations of the Committee on Commerce on the importation of counterfeit pharmaceutical products. Her testimony addresses the health and safety dangers of this practice and highlights some recent prosecutions.
On September 18-19, 2000, the United States sponsored the first-ever meeting of law enforcement experts from G-8 countries to discuss trends in trafficking in counterfeiting and pirated merchandise. Read a summary of the meetings from the link below.