When you are faced with prosecution in a foreign country, it is important to work with an attorney who will explain all of your rights and options. Contact our firm today to schedule a consultation with an experienced extradition attorney.
Tax Crime and White Collar Defense Attorneys: Michigan and Nationwide
Practicing since 1994, attorney Jeffrey S. Freeman has extensive experience analyzing complex tax problems for individuals and businesses and taking action to reach favorable resolutions. Our firm has experience handling a full range of civil and criminal tax matters involving offshore banking, undisclosed foreign income and more. If you are facing allegations of an international tax or financial crime, we encourage you to contact our nationally respected firm for an energetic and focused defense.
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The Birmingham, Michigan-based Law Offices of Jeffrey S. Freeman has office locations to serve clients facing criminal allegations in or near Chicago, Cleveland, Los Angeles, Connecticut, Miami and New York. We are prepared to analyze all aspects of your personal or business financial dealings and any criminal charges you are facing in order to mount the best possible defense.
Our lawyers and carefully assembled, experienced professional team are adept at handling every aspect of an IRS audit or criminal investigation. We can put a proven white collar defense attorney, reconstructive accountants and other quality professionals to work on your case.
Intellectual Property Piracy
Piracy, or theft, of trademarks and copyrighted material is a growing concern. As improved communication methods simplify sending data across international boundaries, theft of intellectual property has become a global affair. Cases that involve the piracy of intellectual property are complex. If you are involved in such a case, consult Law Offices of Jeffrey S. Freeman in Birmingham, MI. Their attorneys are experienced in these types of matters and can explain your best options.
Piracy and Counterfeiting
Piracy and counterfeiting describe the sale of copies of products without the permission of the owner of the rights to those products. Piracy usually refers to the sale of unauthorized copies, without necessarily claiming that it is an authorized copy. For example, selling a recording of a movie made by someone sitting in a theater with a video camera is a type of piracy. Counterfeiting means selling a copy that looks like an authorized copy and falsely claiming that it was authorized or licensed, such as selling unauthorized or unlicensed copies of software in a package that looks exactly like a legitimate package. Some counterfeit copies of products may be so accurate that it is difficult to tell them from legitimate products.
The most common types of piracy and counterfeiting internationally include:
- Medications
- Apparel, footwear and handbags
- Movies and music
- Auto parts
- Electronics
- Health products (toothpaste, lotion, vitamins)
- Food, alcohol and beverages
Preventing and punishing piracy and counterfeiting of intellectual property is impossible for any one country to do on its own. For example, many unscrupulous vendors make or distribute unauthorized copies of products that find their way into the U.S. market. But since these vendors operate beyond the territorial reach of U.S. law enforcement, and the authorities in the vendors' own countries often do not assign a high priority to catching or prosecuting intellectual property thieves, the vendors continue to profit from counterfeited and pirated goods.
International Intellectual Property Laws
International law protects the rights of intellectual property owners outside the borders of their home country. Most countries are members of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and, as a condition of membership, are required to ratify the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS). The United States is a member of the WTO, as are Canada, Mexico, the nations in the European Union, Japan and China. Currently, 151 nations are members of the WTO.
TRIPS sets up a system of strict protection of all intellectual property rights. Minimum terms of protection are provided by the Agreement: patents must last for at least 20 years, and most copyright protection must last at least 50 years after the death of the author of the work. Member nations must extend the same intellectual property protection to citizens of other member nations that they do to their own citizens. Exceptions to the protection of intellectual property (for example, fair use of copyrighted material) must be strictly construed and limited in scope.
Other international treaties also provide intellectual property protection, such as the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT).
Speak to a Criminal Lawyer
Intellectual property is an important asset, and international law recognizes its importance. Intellectual property owners receive protection from theft of their property, even if the theft takes place in another country, or in several other countries. To learn more about the international protections afforded to intellectual property, contact an attorney who is knowledgeable in the field, such as the attorneys at Law Offices of Jeffrey S. Freeman in Birmingham, MI.
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