A new crackdown on the trade in fake goods which costs the UK economy billions of pounds a year was launched today.
The Patent Office says piracy and counterfeiting, including DVDs, perfumes, clothes and alcohol, cheats customers, costs jobs and helps fund organised crime.
To tackle the problem, it has come up with the UK's first intellectual property crime strategy with brand owners, police, trading standards and customs.
The strategy includes sharing information and improving inter-agency co-ordination, improved training of frontline staff and monitoring success in an annual national enforcement report.
Launching the initiative, Industry Minister Jacqui Smith said: "Pirates and bootleggers cheat consumers and place a drain on our economy. We cannot and we will not simply turn a blind eye to copyright and trade mark crime.
"Intellectual property crime is not victimless. As well as cheating consumers, the trade in counterfeit goods costs UK companies billions of pounds and thousands of jobs every year.
"That is why we are working together with industry and law enforcement agencies to clamp down on this illegal trade."
Tuesday August 10, 2004
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