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12 June 2020Trademarks

IP crime linked to manslaughter and forced labour: report

EU investigations have linked IP theft to other crimes including forced labour, manslaughter, and illegal weapons possession, says a new report from the  European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO).

The  report was published today, June 12, by the EUIPO’s  Observatory on Infringements of Intellectual Property Rights, in collaboration with Europol.

It follows previous research into the role of organised crime groups in IP theft, published last year.

The new EUIPO/Europol report details multiple crimes found to be linked to IP violations through investigations by EU and national authorities.

In one case study, raids by Portuguese authorities discovered 27,000 infringing items, including Adidas clothing, as well as guns and ammunition.

In 2019, meanwhile, Greek financial police uncovered counterfeit items like clothing, sunglasses, and fake money alongside a sub-machine gun and army rifle.

Elsewhere, police in Spain, supported by other European and national authorities, dismantled a counterfeit tobacco factory in a hidden underground bunker.

At the site, workers were blindfolded coming to and from the factory, and were not allowed to make contact with others. The factory brought in an estimated €625,000 ($707,293) in criminal profits per week.

The gang in question was led by a convicted drug dealer who escaped from British prison, and distributed an estimated 46.3 billion counterfeit cigarettes throughout Europe in 2018, the report said.

In another joint Spanish-Europol operation, 27 suspects were charged with manslaughter after the death of two workers at another counterfeit cigarette factory, in La Mancha last year.

Authorities found 750 kilos of chopped tobacco and 2,000 pallets of rolled cigarettes at the site, worth almost €10 million.

“IP crime is often seen as ‘victimless’ crime, causing relatively ‘little’ harm,” an EUIPO statement said, adding: “However, in addition to causing harm to the economy in general and to companies owning IP (including small and medium sized businesses), in many cases IP crime is committed by organised crime groups and can cause damage to the health and well-being of consumers, the environment and society.”

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