Counterfeit Products, Genuine Harm: How Intellectual Property Theft Fuels Organized Crime While Undermining American Communities

Abstract

This paper discusses intellectual property theft in the context of President Obama's National Security Council’s Strategy to Combat Transnational Organized Crime and Executive Order 13581. The paper's focus is on understanding how the counterfeiting of industrial and consumer goods harms public health while funding organized crime. The paper concludes with policy recommendations.

Keywords: Transnational Organized Crime, public health, counterfeit, intellectutal property theft, electronics, fasteners, pharmaceuticals, cigarettes, tax stamps