Intellectual Property Enforcement Project

This program is informed by section 401 of Public Law 110-403 and is authorized by the BJA – Economic/High-Tech (Pub. L. No. 114-113, 129 Stat 2242, 2307), which authorizes the Department to provide funding to support state and local intellectual property enforcement efforts. The Intellectual Property Enforcement Program is designed to provide national support and improve the capacity of state, local, and tribal criminal justice systems to address intellectual property enforcement, including prosecution, prevention, training, and technical assistance.

The California Department of Justice project is designed to enhance the TRaCE Task Force response to IP theft by: (1) Coordinating investigations with local, state and federal agencies, as well as, the private industry to target intellectual property crimes within California to deter and discourage counterfeit merchandise from being sold or imported; (2) Establish presence in areas of California where TRaCE is not currently represented, such as the ports within the Bay Area and San Diego regions that are typically known to import cargo containers of illicit counterfeit and other intellectual property goods; and (3) Prosecute cross-program violations as a singular case to fully capture the severity of the crimes and impose stiffer penalties on convicted violators. CA/NCF