Washington –U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) was awarded the 2016 International Intellectual Property Crime Investigations College (IIPCIC) Award for the Agency’s outstanding commitment to public/private sector partnerships in the fight against Intellectual Property (IP) crime last week.
The IIPCIC presented the award to CBP’s Office of Trade Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) Policy and Program Director Michael B. Walsh at the 10th Annual International Law Enforcement IP Crime Conference in London, England.
“This award is a symbol of CBP’s commitment to enforcing U.S. trade laws and protecting America’s economic security. The agency’s engagement in international joint enforcement operations and private sector collaborations are among CBP’s priority IPR enforcement efforts,” explained Mr. Walsh.
In Fiscal Year (FY) 2015, the number of shipments seized by CBP for IPR violations increased nearly 25 percent to 28,865 from 23,140 in FY 2014. The total estimated manufacturer suggested retail price of the seized goods, had they been genuine, increased 10 percent to $1,352,495,341. CBP is on track to report another record-breaking year of IP enforcement in FY16 and credits much of the success to the work done in collaboration with the agency’s international, public, and private sector stakeholders.
The IIPCIC, which is operated by INTERPOL and UL, is a worldwide, interactive, online IP crime training facility that provides IP crime courses to investigators to better enable them to effectively combat existing and emerging threats from transnational organized IP crime.
For additional information on CBP’s IPR enforcement efforts, please visit www.cbp.gov/trade/priority-issues/ipr.