Mexico Initiates Intellectual Property Law Enforcement.(Brief Article)

The Mexican Government has launched a national campaign to strengthen intellectual property enforcement.

Prompted by NAFTA Complaints

The campaign partly responds to complaints by the U.S. that Mexico has not done enough to combat violations of intellectual property law and may be in violation of NAFTA. Intellectual property violations are common in Mexico, where a substantial part of the population works in the so-called "informal economy," openly selling pirated goods such as clothes, shoes and sneakers, perfumes, video and audio cassettes, and computer programs.

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, in response to and in cooperation with the U.S. intellectual property industry, has repeatedly demanded Mexico take more aggressive action against counterfeiting of goods and copyright violations, such as the current campaign.

The campaign highlights the damage that piracy has inflicted on Mexican industry. Jorge …