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- from India, South Korea, and Taiwan. The IPR Center also conducted Advanced ILEA trainings in El Salvador, Hungary, and Peru for participants from 19 countries.
- The Department of State provides training funds each year to U.S. Government agencies that provide IPR enforcement training and technical assistance to foreign governments. The agencies that provide such training include the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), USPTO, CBP, and ICE. In 2012, the Department of State provided funds for 15 training programs for customs, police, and judicial officials from various trading partners including Bangladesh, Brazil, Cambodia, Mexico, Paraguay, and Ukraine, as well as regional trainings in the Balkans and Eastern Europe, and in sub-Saharan Africa. The U.S. Government works collaboratively on many of these training programs with the private sector and with various international entities such as WIPO, and with regional organizations such as the APEC Intellectual Property Experts Group.
- IPR protection is a main focus of the government-to-government technical assistance provided by the Commerce Department's Commercial Law Development Program (CLDP). CLDP programs address enforcement and adjudication of disputes, as well as IPR protection and its impact on the economy, IPR law compliance with the WTO Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property (TRIPS), IPR curricula in law schools, and public awareness campaigns. In 2012, CLDP supported capacity building in innovation and technology transfer in Armenia, Georgia, Egypt, Iraq, and Pakistan, as well as in patent examination in Iraq and copyright management in Georgia. CLDP worked with the judiciary in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Georgia, Mali, and Ukraine to improve the skills to effectively adjudicate IPR cases and conducted interagency coordination programs in Ukraine and in Kenya with the East African Community (EAC).
- The DOJ's Criminal Division, funded by the Department of State, and in cooperation with other U.S. agencies, provided IPR enforcement training to foreign officials. Topics covered in these programs included cooperation between law enforcement agencies, prosecution under economic and organized crime statutes, and the importance of reducing counterfeiting and piracy. Major ongoing initiatives included multiple programs in Mexico and regional events in Africa.
The United States reports annually to the WTO on its IPR capacity building efforts, including most recently in October 2012 (see "Technical Cooperation Activities: Information from Members – United States", IP/C/W/582/Add.6).
Trends in Trademark Counterfeiting and Copyright Piracy
The problems of trademark counterfeiting and copyright piracy continue on a global scale, involving the mass production and far-reaching sales of a vast array of fake goods, including counterfeit semiconductors, medicines, health care products, food and beverages, automobile parts, such as air bags, aircraft parts, apparel and footwear, toothpaste, shampoos, razors, electronics, batteries, chemicals, sporting goods, motion pictures, and music.
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