Drawing together intellectual property agency officials from around the Pacific, the IPEG workshop on "Using Market Research to Develop Effective IPR Campaigns" was held in Singapore on 12-14 December 2007. The workshop was aimed at helping APEC economies to improve research on public awareness and attitudes to IPR issues. The workshop was designed to help ensure that innovation is protected through the development of enhanced local awareness strategies.
The APEC Anti-Counterfeiting and Piracy Initiative includes a range of measures that APEC members aim to implement. Four main goals are highlighted:
Reduce Trade in Counterfeit and Pirated Goods - Economies aim to reduce counterfeit and pirated goods trade and combat transnational networks that produce and distribute these items. Actions include establishing guidelines for authorities to inspect, suspend, seize and destroy goods and equipment used in counterfeit and pirated goods trade.
Reduce Online Piracy - Appropriate legal regimes and enforcement systems will be enacted to curtail online piracy and to undermine the online trade in counterfeit goods. This includes the development of guidelines to prevent Internet sales of counterfeit goods.
Increase Cooperation to Stop Piracy and Counterfeiting - Operational contact and the sharing of information between customs and law enforcement agencies will be increased to combat counterfeiting and piracy networks.
Increase Capacity Building to Strengthen Anti-Counterfeiting and Piracy Enforcement - Member Economies' ability to develop and manage effective anti-counterfeiting and piracy enforcement systems will be increased through education and training throughout the region.
With this mandate, the IPEG group has endeavored to establish IPR Model Guidelines. These include Model Guidelines
to Reduce Trade in Counterfeit and Pirated Goods
to Protect Against Unauthorized Copies
to Prevent the Sale of Counterfeit and Pirated Goods Over the Internet
for Effective Public Awareness Campaigns on Intellectual Property Rights
to Secure Supply Chains Against Counterfeit and Pirated Goods
to Strengthen IPR Capacity Building
IPEG continues to encourage APEC economies to put the model guidelines into practice, and continues to monitor the status of implementation.
