Global Congress on Combating Counterfeiting and Piracy - The First Three Years

• Author: Elizabeth March
• Position: WIPO Editorial Staff

As delegates gather in January for the Third Global Congress on Combating Counterfeiting and Piracy, hosted by WIPO in Geneva, this article looks at how the process began, at the progress to date and the shared challenges ahead.

It was at the World Customs Organization's headquarters, Brussels, in May 2004 that 400 high-level participants gathered for the First Global Congress to Combat Counterfeiting. The need for such a congress had become pressing. Trade in counterfeit goods was rising dramatically worldwide and had spread to almost every conceivable type of product. Billions of dollars in revenues were being lost to the black economy. Counterfeit drugs were putting lives at risk. And there was growing evidence that transnational organized crime networks were using profits from trade in counterfeit and pirated goods to fund their activities.

It was clear that better strategies - based on more effective cooperation between stakeholders at national and international level - were needed to combat the multiple threats posed by this damaging trade. To this end, the first Congress was convened by the World Customs Organization (WCO) and Interpol with the support of WIPO. The three intergovernmental organizations, each with a wealth of experience in different aspects of combating counterfeiting and piracy, called together representatives from governments, industry and enforcement agencies. Together they determined to pool their forces with the objectives of pushing the fight against counterfeiting and piracy up the global political and business agenda; of establishing a high level public-private partnership to pursue collective action; and of generating conditions which would lead to greater investment of human and financial resources in enforcement measures. Their resolve laid the foundations for a global process, now approaching its fourth year.

A Steering Group was established with key partner organizations - the Global Business Leaders Alliance Against Counterfeiting (GBLAAC), the International Trademarks Association (INTA), the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), and the International Security Management Association (ISMA) - in order to build the global public-private partnership and to ensure that recommendations were carried through. Momentum grew during a series of focused forums at regional level in Rome (October 2004), Shanghai (November 2004) and Brazil...