October 18, 2010
NORTHBROOK, Ill., Oct. 19, 2010 - Underwriters Laboratories (UL), a world leader in safety testing and certification, is announcing a new training program to help educate law enforcement, regulatory authorities and private sector investigators on intellectual property (IP) crimes. Developed in partnership with INTERPOL, the courses are designed to increase awareness and understanding of transnational organized IP crime syndicates and explore best practices that most effectively mitigate their activities. INTERPOL and UL will be showcasing program content at the 2010 International Law Enforcement Intellectual Property Crime Conference being held in Hong Kong, China on Oct. 19-21, 2010.
The 2010 International Law Enforcement IP conference, the first to be held in Asia, will bring together 450 IP crime investigators, prosecutors and private sector investigation specialists from more than 28 countries. Co-hosted by INTERPOL and Hong Kong Customs in partnership with UL, the event will facilitate a global discussion on enhancing cooperation to combat organized counterfeiting crimes and feature a keynote address from United States Attorney General Eric H. Holder.
"There are no simple answers to the complexities of organized IP crime, but solutions can be developed through cooperation and partnership," said Brian Monks, UL's Vice President of Anti-Counterfeiting Operations. "Intellectual property violations and counterfeiting crimes pose safety and reliability concerns for consumers and manufacturers across the globe, and require the coordinated efforts of industry, federal agencies, and law enforcement worldwide. Together, we can continue enhancing safeguards that help keep counterfeit products out of consumer hands and improve our most effective weapon against this global threat."
The training program consists of three sequential module levels, and UL anticipates that the introductory level will be launched in January 2011. This first level is comprised of seven courses designed to address the presence and impact of IP crimes, build understanding of the effect on various products and industry sectors, analyze transnational counterfeiting activity, and explore case studies on best practices for combating the criminal activity on a global scale.
The courses are facilitated through the International IP Crime Investigator's College (IIPCIC), a fully interactive online IP crime training facility developed by the INTERPOL Intellectual Property Rights Programme in cooperation with Underwriters Laboratories. The College's main objective is to deliver leading edge training to investigators worldwide and facilitate the skills necessary to effectively combat current and emerging threats from IP crime.
For more than sixteen years, UL's Anti-Counterfeiting Operations (ACO) has been working to protect the safety of consumers around the world from the potential hazards associated with goods bearing counterfeit UL Marks. The anti-counterfeiting training program is another extension of UL's mission to support the production and use of products that are physically and environmentally safe.