Association Participates in Anticounterfeiting Events in Asia, Europe, and Latin America

From Bangkok to Budapest, INTA members and staff recently have been actively engaged in anticounterfeiting efforts around the globe.

USPTO Judicial Colloquium in Bangkok
From June 20 to 22, INTA Board Member Kowit Somwaiya (LawPlus, Ltd., Thailand) participated in the Judicial Colloquium on Civil and Criminal IP Infringement Cases, organized by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and the ASEAN Secretariat. Mr. Somwaiya participated on behalf of the Association and spoke on a panel titled “Challenges for Consumers and Rights Holders in the Global and Online Environment,” along with Michael Schlesinger (Motion Picture Association, Singapore), Say Sujintaya (Baker & McKenzie, Bangkok), and moderator Peter Fowler, Senior Counsel at the USPTO.

Mr. Somwaiya spoke about the challenges facing brand owners in the realm of anticounterfeiting due to the growth of the Internet and what INTA is doing through the Anticounterfeiting Committee to address them. Mr. Somwaiya also spoke about the Unreal Campaign and the importance of educating consumers on the harms of counterfeit products in order to decrease demand for counterfeit goods.

Justice Suvicha Nagavajra, Chief Justice, Central Intellectual Property and International Trade Court (Bangkok) delivered the opening remarks. Other notable speakers included Judge Victoria Roberts of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, Judge Derrick Watson of the U.S. District Court for the District of Hawaii, and Evan Williams, Regional Intellectual Property Law Enforcement Coordinator-Asia, of the U.S. Department of Justice.

Forum on Intellectual Property in Uruguay
On June 22, INTA participated in a forum on the Economic Impact on Intellectual Property, jointly organized by INTA; the National Directorate of Industrial Property Ministry of Industry, Energy and Mining of Uruguay (MIEM-DNPI); and the Inter-American Association of Intellectual Property (ASIPI). The forum was a continuation of the discussions that took place at the IPO Enforcement Seminar, held by INTA in partnership with MIEM-DNPI, ASIPI, and the International Chamber of Commerce-Business Action to Stop Counterfeiting and Piracy in Montevideo on April 19 and 20.

Participants included representatives from the Presidency of the Republic, Ministry of the Interior, National Customs, the Uruguayan Association of Industrial Property Agents, civil and criminal judges, and representatives from the Departmental Government-Municipality of Montevideo. INTA was represented by Virginia Cervieri (Cervieri Monsuarez & Asociados, Uruguay), chair of INTA’s Anticounterfeiting Committee.

Opening remarks for the forum were provided by Dr. Marianela Delor, Director of the National Directorate of Industrial Property. Following the opening remarks, participants discussed conclusions from the IPO Enforcement Seminar and how stakeholders can collaborate to combat counterfeiting.

Europol IPC3 Stakeholders Advisory Group and Conference
On June 25, INTA CEO Etienne Sanz de Acedo and Anticounterfeiting Manager Maysa Razavi attended Europol’s Second Intellectual Property Crime Coordinated Collation (IPC3) Stakeholder’s Advisory Group. As reported in the 2016 INTA Bulletin interview with IPC3 Cluster Manager Chris Vansteenkiste, IPC3 is the intellectual property crime unit of the European Police Office (Europol). The unit has a staff of 18 and is working in partnership with the EUIPO to expand its efforts to fight IP crime-particularly with respect to Internet-related IP crimes. INTA is a member of the Steering Committee of the Stakeholder’s Advisory Group.

Following the meeting, Europol hosted its Intellectual Property Crime Conference on June 26 in Budapest, Hungary. Ms. Razavi represented INTA at the conference and held several side meetings with officials in attendance. The event was also an opportunity to meet with the new Executive Director of Europol, Catherine De Bolle, who took office in May.

For more information on the customs trainings or on INTA’s anticounterfeiting activities, please contact INTA Anticounterfeiting Manager, Maysa Razavi at [email protected] or Anticounterfeiting, Senior Coordinator, Tiffany Pho, at [email protected].

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