The All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Intellectual Property has launched an inquiry into IP and Illicit Trade Enforcement ahead of the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) renewing its counter-infringement strategy.

According to the APPG’s website, the inquiry will gather written and oral evidence to evaluate how effectively the existing enforcement framework is operating for creators, rights holders, and consumers, with a view to developing “practical recommendations for improving enforcement capability, collaboration, intelligence sharing and resourcing across agencies and industry”.

The inquiry invites responses on a range of questions, including which enforcement mechanisms have delivered measurable reductions in IP infringement, what gaps remain, how effective existing intelligence-led enforcement partnerships have proved to be, how cross-border enforcement can be improved, and what technological solutions could be deployed.

The inquiry also comes at a time when the IPO has recently announced that the Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit (PIPCU) will continue to receive baseline funding for the next three years, during which a pilot scheme will be developed for “collaborative industry co-funding” from April 2027 onwards so as to support additional enforcement activities.

Responses to the inquiry are requested by the end of March, in time for the APPG to publish a report by the summer.

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