Law enforcement response to intellectual property crime: Has the PRO-IP Act made a difference?

摘要

This capstone project specifically addresses the federal, state, and local law enforcement response to criminal intellectual property rights (IPR) infringement, especially after the enactment of the Prioritizing Resources and Organization for Intellectual Property (PRO-IP) Act of 2008. To foster greater understanding of the topic, the paper offers a broad perspective of IPR, including the definition of IPR, the legal protections afforded IPR in the US; arguments both for and against enforcing IPR, and strategies employed to reduce IPR infringement. These mitigation strategies included developing international agreements to prevent infringement, public education, and enhanced enforcement of criminal statutes. Even though there is no reliable method to accurately calculate the total amount of IPR-infringing goods in circulation, making the determination of success of PRO-IP difficult, the study revealed that the PRO-IP resulted in increased investigation and prosecution of IPR infringement by federal law enforcement (LE) and selected state and local authorities. Because this paper determined that there is no comprehensive reporting mechanism for IPR enforcement by state and local LE, resulting in limited information from this arena, a recommendation was made to change the FBI National Incident Based Reporting (NIBRS) guidelines to include IP crimes. Additionally, a recommendation was made to standardize the reporting of IP arrests and seizures by federal agencies to provide accurate statistical analysis. Keywords: Economic Crime Management, Dr. Shannon Johnson, counterfeit goods, IPEP, IPEC, IPR Coordination Center, DOJ-BJA.