How ULSE Anti-Counterfeiting is Working to Combat IP Crime
ULSE Anti-Counterfeiting acts as a neutral convener and objective resource to engage cross-sector stakeholders, practitioners, and experts. We leverage collaborative efforts and collective action to address significant product counterfeiting challenges that impact people, our communities, and our planet.
Engagement and Advocacy
We engage with decision-makers and cross-sector organizations to actively listen, seek, and exchange ideas, information, and data. We aim to identify common challenges, shared interests, and objectives and harness joint efforts for mutually beneficial purposes that support collective anti-counterfeiting safety efforts. Additionally, we collaborate with various stakeholders to align and coordinate advocacy efforts. This collaboration seeks to garner support and resources for law enforcement and other first responder capacity building, training, and operational efforts to help reduce and prevent harm associated with counterfeit products.
Capacity Building and Training
We partner with INTERPOL and other global agencies and cross-sector organizations to build capacity within and among law enforcement and first responder communities, which will equip them with the skills, expertise, and capabilities to detect, intercept, and safely remove hundreds of millions of potentially hazardous counterfeit products from the stream of commerce and marketplace, before they reach millions of consumers and end users, are installed in homes and other properties or enter key industries and critical infrastructures.
Education and Awareness
We work with stakeholders and experts to create and deliver educational materials, messaging, and campaigns to help increase awareness among law enforcement, other first responders, and cross-sector organizations about the scope, nature, magnitude, and hazards of product counterfeiting. Additionally, we collaborate with anti-counterfeiting associations, industry groups, and other stakeholders to share expertise and resources, aligning and coordinating more effective and efficient global education and awareness efforts and initiatives.
Data and Intelligence Solutions
We bring together stakeholders and experts to develop solutions for capturing, analyzing, interpreting, and widely sharing empirical evidence, verified data, and information on risks, industry trends, and criminal patterns related to global counterfeiting. Our focus includes safety incident and seizure data to help identify, substantiate, demonstrate, and scientifically measure the hazards associated with these products. Cross-sector organizations can use this resulting data to create actionable insights, best practices, research materials, and useable intelligence across organizational and geographic boundaries to support global anti-counterfeiting efforts.
Research and Innovation
Engage and convene stakeholders, academia, and other experts from different sectors to collaborate on research, science, technology, and innovation initiatives that can better address product counterfeiting challenges. Our efforts will include creating a challenge-driven innovation approach and establishing an expert network to research, analyze, define, and understand safety challenges. We aim to deliver actionable solutions that will deploy cutting-edge technology, data-driven applications, specialized digital tools, and other resources. The goal is to equip law enforcement and other first responders with enhanced anti-counterfeiting capabilities to overcome these critical issues and advance safety.
The IP Crime Conference
The annual IP Crime Conference, co-organized by INTERPOL and ULSE since 2007, offers front-line law enforcement personnel and decision-makers exceptional opportunities to network and share valuable insights. Participants can discuss best practices, explore innovative approaches through case studies, engage in practical operational discussions, and exchange ideas to enhance international and cross-sector cooperation.
The interactive agenda aims to build capacity and transfer knowledge that strengthens skills, enhances capabilities, and increases expertise. It focuses on keeping up with and staying ahead of emerging threats related to globalized and adaptive criminal activities. This event delivers tangible and impactful outcomes that support worldwide safety efforts.
One of the most important aspects of the annual event is that it provides outstanding networking and collaboration opportunities across various sectors. In this relaxed atmosphere, participants can engage with and challenge one another, creating a unique experience for delegates unavailable at other events. Enhancing the networking opportunities at and around the event encourages conversations among cross-sector stakeholders. This environment allows attendees to collaboratively discuss challenges, investigations, enforcement activities, training, initiatives, and new and innovative ideas for rethinking international cooperation and collaborative mechanisms.
Please visit https://www.iipcic.org/conference.php for more information.
The IP Crime College
INTERPOL and ULSE partnered to establish the International IP Crime Investigators College in 2010. It is the only fully interactive online training platform for building capacity within and among global law enforcement and providing a broad-based curriculum to combat product counterfeiting and related intellectual property crime. Since its inception, the College has evolved into a highly respected and renowned law enforcement center with nearly 40,000 learners from 185 countries, representing 1100 agencies and offering courses in six languages.
Product counterfeiting is a complex criminal activity that requires specialized tools to address effectively. The mission of the IP Crime College is to provide innovative and advanced capacity-building and training solutions for law enforcement agencies and other first responders worldwide. These solutions aim to expand knowledge, enhance capabilities, increase expertise, and cultivate a readiness to combat transnational IP crime and product counterfeiting more effectively, enabling them to help build a safer, more secure, and sustainable world.
Please visit https://www.iipcic.org/ for more information.
The Certificate in Intellectual Property Crime and Illicit Trade
The University of Portsmouth, INTERPOL and ULSE have cooperated in launching the Certificate in Intellectual Property Crime and Illicit Trade. It is an educational short course delivered by the University of Portsmouth’s School of Criminology and Criminal Justice. It provides unparalleled access to the latest research and expertise in global IP crime and illicit trade.
The CIPCIT course is distance learning and is delivered online. It explores IP rights, different types of crime and the range of offenders. Students will study theories explaining why people commit these crimes, learn about the social and economic impacts, and examine protection and enforcement strategies. This course contributes to students’ professional practice and prepares them for further study in this area. The credits students earn are recognized academically at the 1st-year undergraduate level, so the course provides a pathway into full degree programs.
Please visit https://www.iipcic.org/kw/ for more information.
ULSE Anti-Counterfeiting Focus Groups
ULSE Anti-Counterfeiting acts as a neutral convenor and objective resource that collaborates with stakeholders, experts, and concerned parties to establish safety-driven Focus Groups. Through these groups, we facilitate in-depth discussions and complete thorough research to analyze, define, and understand safety challenges related to product counterfeiting.
Establishing these cross-sector focus groups is one of the most effective and efficient methods for harnessing diverse perspectives and helping develop and implement innovative solutions to overcome counterfeiting issues and seize opportunities to advance safety by reducing and preventing the harm associated with product counterfeiting, which impacts people, our communities and our planet.