Feds Launch New Anti-Counterfeit Website

The government has launched a new website designed to fight against criminal counterfeiting and piracy.

The feds' Intellectual Property Rights Center launched the website, www.IPRcenter.gov, which includes an overview of the center, news releases, a photo/video gallery, published reports in an easy-to-use document viewer, and an electronic form for the general public, industry and trade associations, law enforcement, and government agencies to report intellectual property rights violations.

The ntellectual property theft of creative expressions like trade secrets, proprietary products and parts, literature, music and films is what the government aims to squash with the new site.

“The IPR Center is one of the U.S. government's key weapons in the fight against criminal counterfeiting and piracy,” according to an IPR Center news release. “The IPR Center is led by Homeland Security Investigations and includes partners from 19 government agencies.”

According to the feds, “In addition to the very real impact on the rightful owners, (intellectual property theft) costs legitimate businesses billions of dollars in lost revenue, drives up consumer prices, robs the United States and global economies of vital jobs and tax revenues, reduces product safety, and sometimes even puts lives at risk.”