Entering into a New 5-year Agreement with INTERPOL

Upon the conclusion of a successful 5-year collaboration, Underwriters Laboratories and INTERPOL have entered into a new 5-year agreement, effective 2022 to 2026. Under this new agreement, both organizations commit to continuing to support their joint anti-counterfeiting programs, the International IP Crime Investigators College (IIPCIC) and the International Law Enforcement IP Crime Conference. Moving forward, new and innovative approaches focused on stakeholder collaboration, knowledge sharing, and research will be pursued.

Since the launch of IIPCIC in April 2010, Underwriters Laboratories and INTERPOL have collaborated to turn the program into the world’s leading online IP education platform.

What started over a decade ago with a cooperation agreement and a single introductory course, the IIPCIC is now an online college with an enrollment of more than 33,000 law enforcement officials located around the world. IIPCIC courses are available in six languages to support global learners from more than170 different countries.

With the assistance of international subject matter experts, the IIPCIC course catalog continues to grow as new courses are developed each year. In 2013, course content expanded beyond the investigation of transnational IP crime to include the development of IIPCIC’s first industry-specific counterfeit training modules. In collaboration with the World Customs Organization (WCO), IIPCIC launched an eight-part series especially for customs officers in 2016. Continuing this trend, a nine-module specialized curriculum for IP prosecutors was developed and launched in 2019. As enrollment numbers continue to climb, the demand for courses and new content continues year after year. In 2022, UL will release a four-part series to educate customs officials on the dangers and safe handling of counterfeit lithium-ion batteries.

In addition to the online courses available through IIPCIC, Underwriters Laboratories and INTERPOL have long partnered to host the annual International Law Enforcement IP Crime Conference. Now in its 15th year, the conference brings together members of the global IP community to discuss the trends in counterfeiting and the impact of pirated goods on public health and safety. After two years of hosting remote events, this year’s conference in September is scheduled to be held in-person in Seoul, South Korea.   

For more than a decade, the partnership between Underwriters Laboratories and INTERPOL has been marked by growth and achievement. We look forward to what the next era brings as our two organizations continue to work together for a safer world.