FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE AG

TUESDAY, JUNE 20, 2006 (202) 514-2007

WWW.USDOJ.GOV TDD (202) 514-1888

Attorney General Highlights

Department of Justice's Efforts to
Enforce and Protect Intellectual
Property Rights
2006 Progress Report Announces Implementation of
Task Force’s Previous Recommendations
WASHINGTON—Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales highlighted the results of
the Progress Report of the Department of Justice’s Intellectual Property Task Force
at the United States Chamber of Commerce’s Coalition Against Counterfeiting and
Piracy program today. He specifically announced that the Task Force has fully
implemented all 31 recommendations contained in its 2004 report, and in some
cases, went well beyond those recommendations.

Among the highlights of the 2006 Progress Report, the Attorney General noted that
the Task Force increased the number of prosecutors in the field by not only creating
the five additional Computer Hacking and Intellectual Property (CHIP) Units
recommended in the 2004 report, but also by going well beyond that
recommendation and creating an additional seven CHIP Units, thereby nearly
doubling the number of CHIP Units (from 13 to 25) in less than two years. The
seven cities most recently announced in this expansion are Austin, Texas;
Baltimore; Denver; Detroit; Newark, N. J.; New Haven, Conn.; and Philadelphia..
The five additional Units created since 2004 are in the District of Columbia;
Nashville, Tenn.; Orlando; Pittsburgh; and Sacramento.

The Progress Report also emphasizes that the Department of Justice has deployed an
experienced federal prosecutor as an Intellectual Property Law Enforcement
Coordinator (IPLEC) to Southeast Asia and secured funding for an IPLEC in
Eastern Europe to handle regional efforts to enforce and protect intellectual property
rights. Among other duties, the IPLEC will assist in providing training and technical
assistance to foreign prosecutors, investigators, and judges regarding intellectual
property investigations and prosecutions.
In addition to these measures, the 2006 Progress Report underscores many critical
successes and improved law enforcement tools in the fight against intellectual
property theft, including:

-Dismantling international criminal organizations that commit intellectual property

offenses;

-Expanding international training and technical assistance efforts;

-Increasing the number of extradition and mutual legal assistance treaties that
include intellectual property offenses;

-Prosecuting intellectual property cases involving a threat to public health and

safety;

-Carefully monitoring and vigorously protecting the right of victims to pursue

intellectual property cases in civil courts;

-Organizing victims’ conferences on intellectual property awareness; and

-Creating innovative intellectual property educational programs for America’s

youth.

While successfully implementing each of the Task Force recommendations, the

Department also exceeded the goals and recommendations called for in the 2004
Report in many areas, including: -Increasing the number of defendants prosecuted
for intellectual property offenses by 98 percent;

-Transmitting to Congress the President’s Intellectual Property Protection Act of

2005;

-Working with the United States Trade Representative to improve language

regarding intellectual property protections in Free Trade Agreements and other
international treaties;

-Publishing a nearly 400-page comprehensive resource manual for federal

prosecutors on prosecuting intellectual property crimes;

-Filing 13 amicus, or “friend of the court,” briefs in the Supreme Court in cases
involving intellectual property disputes; and

-Partnering with the United States Patent & Trademark Office to dedicate $900,000
over three years for piracy prevention efforts with non-profit educational
institutions.

As these achievements indicate, the Department of Justice has made intellectual

property enforcement and protection a high priority, and through the
implementations of the Task Force, the Department of Justice will continue to
protect the country’s vast intellectual property resources.

To download a copy of the Progress Report of the Department of Justice’s Task

Force on Intellectual Property, please visit the Department’s Web site at
http://www.usdoj.gov or http://www.cybercrime.gov.

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