Chris Israel, US coordinator for intellectual property enforcement, briefed congressional staff and the media on the Annual Report to the President and Congress on Coordination of Intellectual Property Enforcement and Protection, which is published by the National Intellectual Property Law Enforcement Coordination Council (NIPLECC).

Israel was appointed to the newly-created position by President Bush in July 2005. The NIPLECC is an interagency group established in 1999, which coordinates US domestic and international intellectual property enforcement activities. It is guided by the Strategy Targeting Organized Piracy (STOP!) initiative, which was launched by the Bush administration in 2004.

The report ’s findings show that in FY2007, 287 defendants were sentenced for IP crimes, representing a 92% increase over FY2005 and a 35% increase over FY2006.

Chris Israel

During his presentation, Israel emphasized improvements such as better border enforcement, an expanded relationship with the WTO and the October 2007 launch of discussions about an Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement .

“As this year's report underscores, the administration has a achieved a great deal with respect to protecting US intellectual property – valued at more than $5 trillion," said Margaret Peterlin, deputy director of the USPTO.

But the report also found that “counterfeit and substandard products pose a dramatic health and safety risk” and recommended enhanced efforts “to keep pace with the increasingly complex and unpredictable threats”.

US Department of Commerce secretary Carlos Gutierrez said: “We realize there’s more work to be done and will work to meet the goals outlined in the report.”