ENFORCEMENT

Office of the Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator
• To identify the extent of risk to public health and
safety. Significant public health and safety concerns
have been identified in connection with the production,
sale, and distribution of counterfeit goods; however,
there has not been a comprehensive assessment of the
scope and nature of these threats to the individual.
• To identify environmental consequences of illicit
trade. Research is urgently needed to evaluate the
extent to which the manufacture, use, and disposal
of illicit goods (from fertilizers, pesticides to other
products containing heavy metals, for example)
contributes to the degradation of the natural
environment.
• To identify the nexus between counterfeit trade and
exploitative labor practices. Violations of fundamental
human rights have been documented in connection
with the manufacture of counterfeit goods, including
the use of child labor, forced labor (including human
trafficking for the purpose of forced labor), and
sweatshop working conditions. Additional research
is required to understand the labor force associated
with counterfeit trade, at the point of manufacture
and distribution/sale. With a fuller understanding
of the scope of the problem, better tailored policy
solutions may be applied. Researchers might choose
to focus on: (1) what preventive measures might be
implemented to protect the most vulnerable people;
and (2) how labor exploiters recruit victims and what
should be done to stop their iniquitous practices.
• To assess the impact of voluntary initiatives. This
Strategic Plan, like its predecessors, recommends that
certain challenges be addressed through enhanced
corporate leadership and voluntary industry initiatives.
However, there is modest research available to
policymakers evaluating the impact of voluntary
initiatives in curbing IP abuses, or whether particular
voluntary initiative strategies have demonstrated
greater effectiveness than others.
• To assess trends and analytics behind counterfeit
trade via “small parcels.” What are the preferred
platforms and channels used to advertise, sell, and
distribute (ship) individual or small shipments of
counterfeit goods via postal or express mail services?
To what extent are individual sellers of counterfeit
goods, distributed via individual small parcels, part
of, or working with, larger transnational organized
counterfeiting networks? What are frameworks to
effectively respond to the growth in millions of
micro-counterfeit sales transactions that travel via
air shipments?
• To assess trends on consumer knowledge and attitude
in transactions involving counterfeit goods. As a
result of technological advances in materials and
manufacturing practices, the infiltration of counterfeit
goods in online portals, and the growing diversity of
fake products (e.g., counterfeit auto parts, medicines,
personal care products, electronics, food and
beverage, etc.), what is the volume of counterfeit
transactions—by product category or sales technique—
that rely on an element of consumer deception or fraud
(e.g., an unwitting purchase)?
• To assess common characteristics of illicit traders.
For example, what is the trading history of importers
of seized containers of counterfeit goods? Are they
new entrants in trade? How long were companies in
existence? Was a misappropriation of another importer’s
(trusted) identity involved? What transport lines are
preferred by illicit source, product category, etc.?
• To use “big data” in order to better understand,
and minimize, illicit trade in counterfeit goods. How
to increase transparency and better insight into
e-commerce and other digital transactions in order
to understand the characteristics of the illicit trader,
including for purposes of enhanced risk-targeting
and predictive analytics? What techniques could be
employed to enhance the usefulness of customs,
enforcement or private sector data?
• To understand crime syndicates’ exploitation of the
global financial system to support counterfeit trade,
including by way of trade-based money laundering.
What is the global scope of trade-based money
laundering involving counterfeit goods?
• To assess how rogue actors may exploit social
media and similar channels in support of illicit
counterfeit trade. For example, to what extent do
illicit actors use social media tools to generate web
traffic; divert consumers to e-commerce websites
where they sell their goods; utilize in-site “buy
buttons” facilitating purchases directly from page
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