Question

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they are taking to stop the sale of counterfeit goods online in the United Kingdom.

This Government takes Intellectual property (IP) crime very seriously and is working closely with law enforcers and rights holders to tackle criminality, including the sale of counterfeit goods online. We recently announced an additional £3 million investment in the police IP crime unit (PIPCU), securing its future until 2017. PIPCU is an operationally independent law enforcement unit dedicated to tackling serious and organized IP crime affecting physical and digital goods.

In addition to this, the Intellectual Property Office continues its coordinating role to ensure that industry, Government and law enforcement share intelligence, and that collaborative operations result in arrests. All this activity is supported by a range of education programmes and a government/private industry partnership to provide IP training to enforcement officers and brand representatives to help them tackle issues arising from counterfeit products.