Today we have a guest post from Pam Passman, the leader of CREATe (www.CREATe.org), a relatively young organization devoted to curbing piracy, counterfeiting and corruption around the world and to protect intellectual property.

A New Approach to Reducing Counterfeiting, Piracy and Corruption
 
We live in a highly interconnected, global marketplace. Over the past three decades, there has been an almost sevenfold increase in international commerce.  In Washington State, trade is central to the economy. Indeed, according to a recent Washington Council for International Trade (WCIT) survey, 40% of jobs in the state are tied to trade.

Global supply chains are central to this growth. However, as supply chains become more distributed and complex, there comes increased points of vulnerabilities. This is particularly true for the information technology (IT) sector where companies face a constant battle against counterfeiting, piracy, trade secret theft and corruption.

It’s not getting better. The total worldwide economic value of counterfeit and pirated materials was $650 billion in 2008. By 2015, this number is expected to hit $1.77 Trillion.

Case in point: between November 2007 and May 2010, U.S. customs officials seized more than 5.6 million counterfeit semiconductor devices bearing fraudulent trademarks of 87 North American, Asian, and European semiconductor companies. For the software industry, the BSA’s 2011 Piracy Report stated that the shadow market of pirated software has grown to $63 Billion.

Traditionally, companies have sought to address IP and corruption challenges by working through government, legal channels and relying on supply chain partners to “do the right thing.” However in many parts of the world, the rule of law is weak and partner companies don’t have systems in place to effectively manage IP protection and anti-corruption efforts.

The Center for Responsible Enterprise and Trade (CREATe.org) was founded last year with the idea of taking a new approach to these issues: one in which industry takes a more prominent role by working together – as it has done on the issues of quality, labor and the environment – to help suppliers improve standards of compliance on IP protection and anti-corruption.

To help companies work with suppliers and business partners on these issues, CREATe has launched CREATe Leading Practices, an online service featuring assessments, trainings and improvement plans. The service takes a collaborative ‘measure and improve’ approach designed to help suppliers and business partners steadily improve practices.

Global expansion and trade offers tremendous opportunities and challenges, particularly for the IT industry. Gaining insight into your supply chain and working to help improve practices in emerging economies provides benefits for all players.

For more information about CREATe, whitepaper and other resources, please visit www.CREATe.org.

 

Pamela Passman is the founding President and CEO of Center for Responsible Enterprise And Trade (CREATe.org). Previously, Passman was Corporate Vice President & Deputy General Counsel, Global Corporate & Regulatory Affairs, Microsoft Corporation. Ms. Passman joined Microsoft in 1996 and until 2002, led the Legal & Corporate Affairs organization in Asia, based in Tokyo. Ms. Passman practiced law with Covington & Burling, Washington, D.C. and with Nagashima & Ohno, Tokyo, Japan. 

Contact: 
Anne Walker, awalker@CREATe.org