The international police organization has also published a set of guidelines for companies that want to provide information about the types of counterfeiting and piracy they suffer from.

The Recommended Minimum Global Standard for the Collection of Information on Counterfeiting and Piracy by the Private Sector , released earlier this week by Interpol officials at an anti-counterfeiting conference in Mumbai, provide guidance to companies affected by IP crime on the type of information they should collect about transnational and organized IP crime attacks.

Ron Noble

Speaking in Mumbai on Tuesday, Interpol secretary-general Ron Noble told the audience that if the private sector adopts the standard, it will allow the information to be added easily into the new database , as well as enabling companies to exchange information about IP crime more effectively.

Noble said that enforcement officials needed every industry affected by counterfeiting and piracy to share information with Interpol.

"Relying on a few forward-thinking industry entities is not enough," he said. "For the database to achieve its maximum potential and deliver results, we need critical momentum. That means the receipt of significant amounts of relevant and timely information from the private sector about those criminals."

Noble said that the database was, in part, designed to fill a void identified by the OECD , which last year expressed its frustration about the limited amount of reliable data available about the scope and extent of the trade in fakes and pirated products.

He went on to say that although many multinational companies collect evidence of counterfeiting to support civil lawsuits against IP infringers, the information that they gather is not often put to work for the benefit of the industry as a whole.

"If the private sector is serious about reducing the impact of counterfeiting and piracy, it is no longer acceptable to invoke misguided data-protection arguments for not sharing information," said Noble. "In many jurisdictions, it is perfectly legal to disclose data to the police to prevent or detect crime. All that is required is the determination and collective willingness to do so for the common good."

He went on to explain the measures in place to ensure the safe handling of information from companies and assured the audience that the database on IP crimes is a stand-alone system with information-handling protocols to protect the confidentiality and proprietary interests of private-sector information.