The Label Printers’ Chief Executive Bill Kane and Chief of Operations Lori Campbell recently returned from Panama City, Panamá where they attended the 2012 International Law Enforcement Intellectual Property (IP) Crime Conference – co-hosted by INTERPOL, EUROPOL, and the Policiá Nacional De Panamá in partnership with Underwriters Laboratories. The Label Printers was a Platinum Sponsor of the Conference, which brought together hundreds of attendees from around the world, representing the law enforcement community, IP and brand owners, anti-counterfeiting product suppliers, and others interested in combating the global menace of counterfeiting and piracy.

The conference’s expected attendance was more than 500 delegates representing law enforcement, regulatory and custom agencies, private sector IP crime investigators, and prosecutors from more than 50 countries. The conference title – East Meets West: Working with the Americas to Combat Counterfeiting – reflects the depth and breadth of those attendees, as well as the conference goal as explained in Secretary General of INTERPOL Ronald Noble’s, welcoming comments, “Fighting intellectual property crime stretches beyond law enforcement, and an effective campaign requires cross-sector cooperation at all levels. The need to work together at the national and regional levels was consistently highlighted at our previous conferences, held in Asia, Europe and North America. This necessity has not diminished; on the contrary, it is greater than ever before.”

UL President and CEO Keith Williams, who spoke at the Conference’s Opening Ceremony, focused on three important steps to ending counterfeiting: “Education on the danger of counterfeit products and the damage they cause to consumers and business; information sharing among law enforcement professionals to analyze trends for more effective targeting of on-the-ground intervention; and interdiction operations by law enforcement, customs and regulatory agencies to curtail counterfeiting activities.”

The conference featured operational workshops and operational round tables. The conference displays and exhibitions included information about the International IP Crime Investigators College (an on-line IP crime training facility), and a new initiative from UL and the Walt Disney Company – a program entitled Safety Smart, which, says Williams, “has an initial focus on children and families and will raise awareness of the negative consequences of counterfeiting and piracy.”

“The Safety Smart presentation was excellent. Of course you couldn’t think of a better combination to reach children on the subject of safety than Walt Disney and UL,” commented Kane.