
On 12 July
2016 EUROPOL’s headquarters in The Hague witnessed the launch of the
Intellectual Property Crime Coordinated Coalition (IPC3).
This organization
constitutes the EU’s response to offences against intellectual property and
stems from the joining of the strengths of EUROPOL and the EUIPO in this area.

The IPC3 arose
out of a strategic agreement between EUROPOL and the EUIPO signed in 2013. It
has been incorporated into the current structure of EUROPOL and receives
financial support from the EUIPO in the amount of 500,000 euros per year.
The
organization provides technical and operational support for law enforcement
agencies and other partners both inside and outside the EU by:
- a) facilitating and coordinating cross-border investigations;
- b) monitoring and reporting on trends in on-line offences and watching for the appearance of new modus operandi;
- c) improving the harmonization and standardization of legal instruments and operating procedures to fight intellectual property crime globally;
- d) reaching the public and law enforcement agencies by enhancing awareness and providing training in this specific area of knowledge.
The
creation of the IPC3 is more than warranted if we consider the impact of
counterfeit or pirated goods within the EU, which account for 5% of imports
with a total value of 85,000 million euros. The fight against offences of this
nature has to be given priority in order to provide consumers with protection
against dangerous or defective products and to tackle the organized criminal
networks engaging in these illicit activities which are frequently also linked
to other serious forms of transnational crime (smuggling, illegal immigration,
labour exploitation, tax evasion, money laundering, financing terrorist
activities, etc.).
The Joint
Task Force Observatory EUIPO-INTA of INTA’s EU Anti-Counterfeiting
Subcommittee, of which ELZABURU forms part, had for some time been strongly
advocating the setting up of a specific organization within EUROPOL to combat
crime of this nature.
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