Remarks-at-the-Intellectual-Property-Summit-in-Hong-Kong.doc

Remarks at the Intellectual Property Summit in Hong Kong

Ladies and gentlemen,
Good afternoon. First and foremost, I would like to thank INTERPOL and Hong Kong Customs for hosting this important conference—and for bring together so many leaders, experts, and partners from law enforcement agencies across the world.
It is fitting that we are gathered here in Hong Kong—a centre of global innovation– to chart our course forward. And, this week, I hope it is the meeting ground for unprecedented international cooperation.
This conference is an important opportunity—a chance to focus the attention, and to harness the talents and resources, of the international law enforcement community in protecting intellectual property rights, safeguarding innovation, ensuring the health and safety of our citizens, and combating the international networks of organized criminals now seeking to profit from intellectual property crimes.
In North America, Europe and here in Asia, intellectual property accounts for a significant and growing segment of commercial trade. But the same technologies that have spurred rapid growth in the legitimate economy have also allowed criminals to misappropriate the creativity of our innovators and entrepreneurs. The global software industry is a prime example. According to recent industry reports, it is now estimated that, worldwide, more than 40 percent of all software installed on personal computers is obtained illegally—with lost revenues of the software industry topping $ 50 billion. These are funds that could have been invested in new jobs and next generation technologies.
Today, gathered here, we are signaling that a new era of cooperation, engagement, and vigilance against intellectual property crimes has begun. And we are sending a clear message to criminals profiting from the ingenuity of others or endangering the safety of our citizens by selling counterfeit goods. We will find you. We will stop you. And you will be punished.
Our task is great—but our success is possible. Only if we work in common cause and only if we honor the values we share, can we—and will we—create a world in which intellectual property crime is not the domain of the future, but a marker of the past.
Thank you.