The Intellectual Property Enforcement Program (IPEP) is designed to improve the capacity of state, local, tribal, and territorial criminal justice systems to address intellectual property (IP) enforcement, including prosecution, prevention, and training and technical assistance. Funding awards will support law enforcement agencies which have an IP enforcement task force or plan to create one. These task forces will collaborate with relevant state, local, territorial, tribal, and federal agencies, including their local U.S. Attorney’s Office, to fulfill program goals.
This program is specifically designed to support the Department of Justice’s mission to investigate and prosecute intellectual property crimes. This will be accomplished by assisting state, local and tribal jurisdictions to build partnerships with federal agencies and prosecutors. This program will also work to prevent and reduce intellectual property theft and related crimes through community and buyer awareness. IPEP includes an educational component to assist uninformed buyers in determining the authenticity of seemingly legitimate websites that instead deceive consumers into purchasing counterfeit goods.