IACC’s Third LatAm Summit Draws Largest and Most Diverse Group of Attendees to Date!

IACC’s Third LatAm Summit Strengthens Regional IP Enforcement Knowledge and Cooperation

Summit Hosted More than 250 Attendees from the Region

“The road to overcoming counterfeiting is acknowledging that the problem is borderless. Not one country or company can overcome it alone. That’s why we have so many countries represented here. We’ll exchange information. We’ll share best practices. And we’ll connect.

– IACC President Bob Barchiesi during his keynote address

On October 2-3, the IACC, in partnership with the US National Intellectual Property Coordination Center, hosted the third Latin America Brand Protection Summit. This flagship event for anti-counterfeiting in the region took place in Orlando, FL and brought together more than 250 attendees from 25 countries.

This year’s Summit provided thought-provoking discussions and valuable information exchanges on trade routes and other areas of the supply chain that counterfeiters exploit to bring their fake goods to market. Enforcement officials and experts from a wide range of industries shared insight on these topics and explored how counterfeit products in different industries cause harm to consumers.

Attendees also took advantage of the many networking opportunities. In the end, participants left the conference armed with new connections and new information to help them advance their anti-counterfeiting efforts in their respective companies and countries.

Conference Highlights:

“Nowhere else can industry go to find officials from as many countries in Latin America and the Caribbean than here. And nowhere else can our law enforcement guests go, to find private industry partners representing every industry category from large and small companies on this scale.”

– IACC Chairperson Dawn Atlas during her keynote address

• The conference welcomed a wide range of law enforcement participants from the Latin American and Caribbean region, many of whom were new to the Summit. Law enforcement from the following countries connected with each other and industry attendees: Argentina, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Cayman Islands, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Curacao, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Trinidad, and Uruguay.
• Each day opened with keynote addresses from high-level enforcement officials from the US, Argentina, Colombia and Peru. Each speaker provided insight on his/her agency’s approach to enforcing IP rights in his/her respective jurisdiction, which includes working in partnership with industry. Summit attendees heard from the following:
  • Derek N. Benner, Acting Deputy Director, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (United States)
  • General Juan Carlos Buitrago Arias, Director, Fiscal Customs Police (Colombia)
  • Diego Sarmoria, Police Commissioner, Federal Crimes Division, Federal Police (Argentina)
  • Cynthia Whittenburg, Deputy Executive Assistant Commissioner, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (United States)
  • Vishal Amin, White House IP Enforcement Coordinator (United States)
  • Brian A. Benczkowski, Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division, U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) (United States)
  • Martin S. Parra Saldana, General Director, National Police (Peru)
  • Nathan Parks, Assistant Section Chief, Financial Crime Section, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) (United States)
• Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) brought 44 front line law enforcement personnel from nine different Latin American countries as part of their Transnational Criminal Investigative Unit (TCIU) program, thereby promoting teamwork between HSI and their host countries, as well as exposure to brand partners for future collaboration.
• Attendees took the opportunity to engage in facilitated small group roundtable discussions with government officials from the 25 LatAm countries represented at the Summit.
• At the Summit’s Brand Training, more than 15 trademark owners from shoes and apparel, luxury goods, electronics to pharma, personal care, and tobacco industries educated conference attendees, particularly government officials, about their products and the unique enforcement challenges their companies face in the region.

The IACC supports enforcement agencies in Latin America and beyond and stands ready to facilitate the partnerships necessary to overcome counterfeiting. The IACC will continue to play a leading role in the development of cross-industry collaboration to combat counterfeiting and piracy.

The IACC looks forward to an even more successful Latin America Brand Protection Regional Summit in September 2020. Don’t miss the LatAm anti-counterfeiting event of the year! Stay tuned for more details.

View Summit pictures by following us on Facebook.

Recognition

The IACC thanks the National IP Coordination Center for its partnership and efforts to make this year’s Summit a success.

Special thanks also go to those who contributed to the Summit program: Julie Mejia from P&G, Cynthia Merchant from Eli Lilly and Newton Vieira from Nike, and IACC law firm members in Uruguay, Peru, Mexico, Colombia, Panama, Brazil, Argentina, Chile and Paraguay.

The IACC also recognizes Dario de la Pena of Akuun Consulting, who did a wonderful job as the Summit emcee and host.

Conference Sponsors:

• Reception – De La Rue
• Gold – Amazon
• Silver – EstŽe Lauder
• Bronze – Coty

Media Partners:
• SecurityIndustry.com
• World Intellectual Property Review

Don’t miss the anti-counterfeiting industry’s largest event of the year, the IACC Annual Conference in Singapore on April 2020! Registration will open in a few weeks. Check here for updates.