James Delahunty
3 Dec 2005 14:50
The United States and the European Union are to work together to fight against intellectual property violations. The announcement was made by EU trade commissioner Peter Mandelson and US Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez. "We are sending a message of zero tolerance to the rest of the world," Mandelson said. He said the two sides had agreed on a "focused and comprehensive enforcement process" for intellectual property violations but didn't give any specific details.
It is estimated that violations of copyright that protects brands and inventions from illegal imitation results in up to $360bn in illegal trade each year. The EU said this is unfairly depriving legitimate business of income. China was targeted by the EU in a customers operation that recovered over 2 million fake products.
Gutierrez said that the justice department, state department and the US trade representative will be included in the Government-wide operation. "We are putting the full resources behind the subject of intellectual property rights," he said. The World Trade Organisation (WTO) also announced that developing states have been given another 7 and a half years to supply trademark and copyright protections. The original deadline was January 1st, 2006 but many states couldn't meet it.
Source:
BusinessDay