Top companies lay out anti-piracy strategy for 2015

International business leaders drew up a work plan to combat piracy and counterfeiting at a meeting in London, UK, last week.

Representatives from the food, electronics, personal care, clothing, tobacco products, movie, music and software industries outlined their plans for 2015 at the meeting, which was led by the Business Action to Stop Counterfeiting and Piracy (BASCAP) steering committee.

The group committed to engage with national governments to elevate efforts to strengthen intellectual property (IP) enforcement regimes through the production of country reports highlighting the value of IP.

One proposal is to broaden the reach of the BASCAP public awareness campaign 'I Buy Real, Fakes Cost More' to national governments and national anti-counterfeiting associations.

According to the organisation, the infiltration of counterfeit and pirated goods drains $1trn from the global economy and robs over 2.5m jobs.

BASCAP pledged to raise awareness of the economic and social risks stemming from counterfeiting and piracy, promote recommendations for improving IP enforcement, and laid out a plan to impart best practices to regional governance bodies, including the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the G20 and BRIC nations (Brazil, Russia, India and China).

The group agreed to continue promoting IP rights enforcement measures in free trade zones and encouraging national governments to adopt proceeds of crime legislation to deter counterfeiting and piracy by criminal organisations. It also promised to engage more with supply chain intermediaries to protect supply chains from the infiltration of counterfeiting and piracy.