Federal Guidelines for Prosecution of Violations of Intellectual Property Rights
(Copyrights, Trademarks and Trade Secrets)

The importance of the protection of intellectual property to the economic well-being and security of the United States cannot be overestimated. The Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section wrote the attached manual to assist law enforcement in the investigation and prosecution of violations of federal criminal copyright, trademark, and trade secret laws. Section I* of the manual contains an overview of the protection of intellectual property, and discusses the basic scope of copyright, trademark, and trade secret and patent law. Section II* focuses on intellectual property entitled to copyright protection and Section III* describes the applicability of various federal criminal statutes to copyright infringement. Section IV* addresses the prosecution for trafficking in counterfeit goods under 18 U.S.C. § 2320. Section V* discusses the prosecution of trade secret thefts and analyzes the recently enacted Economic Espionage Act of 1996. Finally, Section VI* contains a list of contact persons, model indictments, search warrant affidavits, jury instructions, state criminal trade secret statutes, and the legislative history of the Copyright Felony Act and the Economic Espionage Act of 1996.

*To View or Download The Manual Referenced; http://www.usdoj.gov/criminal/cybercrime/intell_prop_rts/toc.htm

The above information has been obtained by The United States Department of Justice