Chamber Commends Progress on Combating Intellectual Property Theft

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The United States Chamber of Commerce praised officials from five key government agencies for coming together to fight counterfeiting and piracy. This came as the Chamber's National Chamber Foundation (NCF) brought together Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez, officials from the Department of Homeland Security, Department of State and the office of the United States Trade Representative to join with several leaders of major U.S. companies and trade associations for its anti-counterfeiting and piracy summit.

"Few global challenges have such far-reaching economic, safety, and security implications as do counterfeiting and intellectual property crimes," said Thomas J. Donohue, Chamber president and CEO. "Support from these government agencies and their cooperation with business to tackle this problem has been heartening and the early results are promising."

Eighteen months ago, the U.S. Chamber launched a comprehensive, global response to counterfeiting and piracy. Earlier this year, the Chamber led the formation of the Coalition Against Counterfeiting and Piracy, a group of 105 trade associations and companies that is working to educate lawmakers and the public about the dangers of counterfeiting and piracy, as well as ways to stop these crimes. The Chamber is also working to advance legislation in Congress to criminalize IP theft and fund increased enforcement efforts.

"The Chamber supports the Administration's efforts to combat counterfeiting and piracy such as appointing an Intellectual Property Coordinator, launching the Strategy Targeting Organized Piracy (STOP) Initiative and working with businesses to identify problems and solutions to this pervasive problem," said Donohue. "By working together, we can go after the pirates and counterfeiters to protect the health and safety of citizens and consumers."

The Chamber of Commerce is the world's largest business federation representing more than three million businesses and organizations of every size, sector, and region.

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