Attorney General Eric Holder on Tuesday called for tighter cooperation between public and private sector leaders to help the Justice Department address one of its top priorities: the protection of intellectual property rights.
Eric Holder (photo by Andrew Ramonas/Main Justice)
Appearing at a White House forum on IP theft with federal law enforcement officials, Holder said the DOJ is strongly committed to stemming the flow of fake drugs, counterfeit electronic parts and other bogus items into the U.S. marketplace. But he said the DOJ cannot effectively fight IP crimes alone.
“Collaboration is essential across the federal government and with our law enforcement partners, our foreign counterparts and also, most importantly, with the business community,” Holder said. “This collaboration must become more seamless.”
The White House announced at the forum that Google Inc., Microsoft Corp., Yahoo! Inc., MasterCard Inc., Visa Inc., American Express Co., GoDaddy.com Inc., Neustar Inc., eNom Inc. and EBay Inc.’s Paypal Inc. have agreed to help create a non-profit organization dedicated to rooting out online pharmacies that sell counterfeit medicine.
Holder and Assistant Attorney General Tony West of the Civil Division said at the forum that the DOJ is already working hard to stop the sale of fake drugs on Internet. West said the DOJ has created a dedicated team of attorneys to handle counterfeit drug cases, and is focused on efforts to maintain the integrity of legal pharmacies, teach consumers about the dangers of unregulated pharmaceuticals and enforce intellectual property laws.
“These unregulated online pharmacies, they often masquerade as legitimate,” West said. “But they really open an illicit channel, which goes around our health and safety laws and regulations because they promise huge rewards and profits and, many believe, relatively low risks to those who offend.”
The Attorney General touted the successful prosecutions of En Wang and Hazim Gaber on charges stemming from the distribution of counterfeit pharmaceuticals.
Gaber, a Canadian citizen, was convicted in August for using the Internet to sell counterfeit pharmaceuticals. Wang, the owner of a Houston-based company, was convicted in September in a conspiracy to traffic fake drugs that were discovered to contain a chemical used to create sheetrock.
Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer of the Criminal Division said at the forum that IP theft can have serious consequences for Americans’ health and U.S. businesses.
“All too often, IP is not treated as a serious crime because it’s perceived as a victimless crime,” Breuer said. “But of course, nothing could be further from the truth.”
Holder said the launch in February of DOJ’s Task Force on Intellectual Property has helped build stronger relationships with federal agencies to better protect IP rights.
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director John Morton and White House Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator Victoria Espinel, who were also at the forum, credited successes in IP criminal enforcement to their partnerships with the DOJ.
“We appreciate the partnerships that we have, especially with the Justice Department, which is critical to our joint success,” Napolitano said.
[...] Attorney General said last week that the task force has been effective. But he called for more collaboration between public and private sector leaders on IP matters. RELATED [...]