U.S. DOJ pumps up intellectual property efforts

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has fulfilled or exceeded all recommendations made by an intellectual property task force in October 2004, including new computer crime investigations units in 12 cities, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales announced Tuesday.

Since the DOJ's task force made 31 recommendations for protecting intellectual property, the DOJ has launched Computer Hacking and Intellectual Property (CHIP) units in seven more cities than the task force recommended. The DOJ now has 25 CHIP units across the U.S., and among the newest 12 are units in Washington, D.C., Baltimore, Denver, Detroit, and Philadelphia.

During a speech in Washington, D.C., Gonzales called intellectual property the "lifeblood" of the U.S. economy. 

"We've done a lot," he said. "We have to do a lot more."

The DOJ, which released a progress report on the initiative Tuesday, has also stationed an experienced prosecutor to work on intellectual property enforcement in Southeast Asia, and will add a prosecutor in Eastern Europe. Those DOJ prosecutors will help train foreign prosecutors, investigators, and judges about intellectual property investigations, the DOJ said.

The report also notes several other DOJ efforts during the past two years. Among the task force recommendations the DOJ has met:

-- Increasing the number of defendants prosecuted for intellectual property offenses by 98 percent between the government's fiscal 2004 and 2005 years;

-- Publishing a nearly 400-page comprehensive resource manual for federal prosecutors on prosecuting intellectual property crimes;

-- Partnering with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to dedicate US$900,000 over three years for piracy prevention efforts with nonprofit educational institutions.

The Business Software Alliance, a trade group representing large software vendors, praised the DOJ report, saying the agency has made "significant progress" in protecting intellectual property.