Interpol to keep track of IIP violators

Mumbai, Feb 26 (UNI) Interpol and the United States Chamber of Commerce have joined hands to combat the threat to the global economy posed by the ever-increasing intellectual property theft.

To meet this challenge, the two have launched a worldwide database of international intellectual property (IIP) violators.

The database will be based on the names, adderesses and phone numbers of the violators, which would be provided by the industry, and it will help in analysing the ternds in counterfeiting and piracy, Interpol Secretary General Ronald Noble informed here today, while addressing the media at the two-day second annual global forum on innovation, creativity and intellectual property.

Stating that the goal was to work together with the industry from across the world, Mr Noble said the impact of counterfeiting and piracy on the global economy was immense.

''According to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) estimates, pirated consumer products alone are worth USD 200 billion, of which 10 per cent are from the pharmaceutical products. Also, 60 per cent of this is from the developing countries itself,'' he said.

The database primarily focuses on key sectors like pharmaceuticals, entertainment, transport and software.

Mr Noble said the test run for the database had begun six months ago and private companies from across 54 countries have already listed entries of some 5,000 IIP violators.

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