Intellectual Property

IP crime group fighting serious counterfeiting & piracy growth

A Government report launched today by Lord Sainsbury of Turville warns that international intellectual property crime is an increasingly serious problem with seizures at European Union (EU) external borders rising dramatically.

The National Intellectual Property Enforcement Report, PDF document(715Kb) published by The Patent Office with contributions from Government, enforcement agencies and industry, provides a comprehensive assessment of the scope and scale of the Intellectual Property crime scene.

The Intellectual Property (IP) Crime Group, established by The Patent Office following the 2004 launch of its National IP Crime Strategy, is fighting a tough battle. However, the Strategy which defined an intelligence-led approach between Government, enforcement agencies and rights holders is making headway. The Group has received more than 500,000 intelligence reports in the last nine months.

In 2005, this integrated approach involving Trading Standards, the Police, the Immigration Service, Job Centre Plus and The Patent Office led to a major tactical operation with a series of weekend raids at Wembley Market - a hotspot for counterfeit and pirated goods. More than £1.5 million of counterfeit and pirated goods were seized and intelligence passed to other agencies for action.

Further progress has been achieved by The Patent Office with the establishment of a national IP Crime intelligence database named TELLPAT™ which is now recognised by the Police, intelligence officers and trading standards as the key database on IP crime.

However, the report, launched at this week’s Trading Standards Institute Conference, highlights disturbing trends in rapidly growing Intellectual Property crime.

The Internet has now become a major avenue of trade for counterfeit sellers, particularly through on line auction sites. The Business Software Alliance estimates that Microsoft has taken down more than 35,000 auctions from a leading United Kingdom (UK) oriented auction site since August 2005.

Music piracy is now seen as endemic and the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) estimates that there is now somebody on every street in the UK manufacturing illegally, either privately or commercially.

Against the background of this growth in criminal activity, the report expresses deep concern about the prevailing public perception that intellectual property crime is victimless.

Lord Sainsbury said: "Not only is the rise of counterfeit and pirated products a threat to consumers, businesses and the national economy, it is also used to launder money and fund illegal activities. We suspect that all international crime organisations are now involved in counterfeiting. The Government’s message to these criminals is that the UK is no longer a safe environment for you. Our joint intelligence will lead to more surprise raids in markets and other locations and the authorities will take action against those involved."

Ron Gainsford, Chief Executive of the Trading Standards Institute, added: "Whilst the focus is often on music or DVD piracy, there is even more worryingly, a large increase in fake goods which are dangerous to the health and safety of consumers. We need to bring about a change in public opinion in that it is NOT acceptable to purchase or trade in counterfeit or pirated goods."

Ron Marchant, Chief Executive of The Patent Office, added: "This report builds on our previous knowledge. It reflects on the trends of IP Crime and demonstrates how, by taking an intelligence-led approach, we have set about responding actively to what is a growing and threatening illegal activity."

A full copy of the report PDF document(715Kb) can be downloaded from this website or by telephoning 0845 9 500 505.

Editors' notes:

Other issues highlighted in the report are:

  • In relation to film piracy, there was a 20% increase during 2005 of DVDr burners seized - confirming the shift to UK produced items from imported pressed master discs. The Federation Against Copyright Theft (FACT) reports that Chinese organised criminal networks in the UK have increasingly become involved in the illicit manufacture and distribution of counterfeit films which are hugely vulnerable to online digital piracy.

  • Contrary to public perception, most fakes appear to be household items rather than luxury goods and the high quality of their packaging makes it almost impossible to tell the difference without technical expertise.

  • Pharmaceuticals are seen as a boom industry with the incidence of counterfeit medicines increasing more than 45% against 2004.