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New move to tackle IP crime, sort of ...

By Johanna Gibson, David Pearce, Jeremy Phillips and Ilanah Simon.

According to a Press Release, "UK Intellectual Property Office helps tackle IP crime", the UK Intellectual Property Office (UK-IPO) is playing an active part in helping the recently established Global Prosecutors' E-Crime Network (GPEN) -- which consists of a database of e-crime prosecutors, a forum for exchanging advice, and e-crime material, to overcome intellectual property crime.

Right: in a new move to outwit IP criminals, international crime-fighters are to deploy the new intelligent paper-clip. Use of this device, which holds several pieces of training material together, cannot be detected over the internet.

The text of the Press Release reads, in relevant part:

"The UK-IPO is working in partnership with the Crown Prosecution Service in providing a portfolio of IP training material. The Network's activity will lead to more successful prosecutions in the fight to overcome the current multi billion intellectual property crime business. ...

This initiative reinforces the UK-IPO's commitment to supporting and developing a partner agency approach in the ongoing fight against IP crime. The Gowers Review of Intellectual Property (recommendation 44) pointed to the need to provide more
training to the criminal courts on the complexities of IP. This partnership will mean that UK prosecutors as well as global prosecutors will have access to a broad range of IP training material".

Not wishing to sound cynical or curmudgeonly, the IPKat wonders (i) whether this initiative will actually achieve anything other than to create another collation of training information that has to be read, revised, updated and digested before the fight on IP crime can begin, and (ii) how on earth the measurement of the utility of this initiative is going to be measured. Merpel says, it seems to me that the IP criminals are far more successful than those who seek to track them, even though they don't have training schemes, information packs and government backing. Perhaps we should be learning from them.

Other GPENs here, here and here ...

Full post as published by IPKat on October 19, 2008 (boomark / email).