International IP Enforcement Summit London 2014

Online, June 13, 2014 (Newswire.com) - We, the participants of the first international enforcement summit in 2014, celebrate the unique economic, social and cultural contribution of the world's creators and innovators.

We recognise the significant opportunities and benefits presented by new digital technologies and international trade flows for all of our citizens, businesses and economies.

But we see clearly that, without a proper respect for intellectual property rights and unless we tackle intellectual property abuses such as counterfeiting and piracy, their value will be undermined.

We agree that active cross-border cooperation and international collaboration is needed to provide effective protection for intellectual property rights.

We commit to working together to:

• Build a global understanding of the scope, scale and impact of counterfeiting, piracy and other IP infringements and the principal trends and issues;

• Develop balanced and practical solutions based on robust data and credible insight;

• Increase the visibility and impact of enforcement activity;

• Raise awareness to citizens and consumers on the value of IP and on the damages associated with counterfeit goods and content piracy

• Raise awareness to consumers and citizens to help protect them from the growing risks associated with counterfeit goods and content piracy.

We will work in partnership to support and strengthen the effectiveness of Governments, enforcement agencies, border authorities and regulatory services in addressing IP crime by:

• sharing information and identifying opportunities to improve enforcement approaches and frameworks;

• Sharing and applying best practice and the most effective tools, techniques and analysis to enhance detection and deter physical and online IP infringement;

• Enhancing public and private sector cooperation at international borders.

In all that we do, we will seek to work openly to balance the interests of legitimate IP users with those of IP rights holders.

We will maintain and develop the relationships we have forged at this Summit and will gather again in 2016 to review our impact.

We call on our partners in Government, enforcement agencies and business organisations around the world to join our united effort to address international IP abuses.