ENFORCEMENT

Joint Strategic Plan on Intellectual Property Enforcement
Accountability Office found that 526 reports of
suspected counterfeit parts were entered for fiscal years
2011 through 2015. 130
Similarly, private supply chains are being infiltrated,
resulting in counterfeit products unknowingly being
passed along and sold directly to industries and
consumers alike. With respect to industrial supply
chains, the U.S. has identified sixteen (16) critical
infrastructure sectors whose assets, systems, and
networks, whether physical or virtual, are considered
so vital to the United States that their incapacitation or
destruction would have a debilitating effect on security,
National economic security, National public health or
safety, or any combination thereof. 131 These critical
infrastructure sectors span across various industries,
including for example, information technology; critical
manufacturing (e.g., electrical equipment, transportation
equipment, etc.); food and agriculture; healthcare and
public health; and energy.
The diversity of counterfeit and faulty goods not
only creates extra costs for businesses and consumers,
but can also corrupt critical infrastructure sectors and
jeopardize public safety. From counterfeit electronic
components used in information technology systems
to counterfeit automotive parts; from counterfeit
pharmaceuticals to counterfeit fertilizers and pesticides
that contaminate food supplies, these and other
products and components introduce potential problems
along the supply spectrum, posing a growing threat to
governments, industry and consumers.
“The link between organized crime groups
and counterfeit goods is well established. But
INTERPOL is sounding the alarm that Intellectual
Property Crime is becoming the preferred method
of funding for a number of terrorist groups.
There are enough examples now of the funding
of terrorist groups in this way for us to worry
about the threat to public safety. We must take
preventative measures now.”
There are a number of publicly available examples—
stemming from U.S. prosecutions and reports;
international organizations and law enforcement
bodies; and the news media—that illustrate the growing
convergence between IP-based crimes, TOC, and
terrorism. With respect to the latter, there is evidence
supporting links between intellectual property crime
(IPC) and various terror groups, but as succinctly
noted by INTERPOL, “most terrorist groups do not
take responsibility for the development and control
of counterfeit production and distribution; rather they
FIG. 32
Former Secretary General, INTERPOL, Hon. Ronald K. Noble
SECTION 1
b. The Convergence between Intellectual Property-Based
Crime and the Financing of Criminal and Terror Networks.
The growth in illicit trade is being fueled by smart
and sophisticated organized criminal networks that
understand how to exploit new technology, and use
the differences among national regulatory regimes
and links between the global economic, financial,
and transportation systems for their own gain. There
is no single structure under which transnational
organized criminals operate; they vary from hierarchies
to clans, networks, and cells, and may evolve to
other structures and the crimes they commit also
vary. 132 These networks generate illicit profits that
may be used for other criminal activities, such as
drug trafficking, people smuggling, bribery, money
laundering and terrorism. 133
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