Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement
The Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) is a global effort to improve and create international standards for the enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights laws against large scale IP Rights (IPR) infringements. The primary components of ACTA include (1)international cooperation (2) enforcement practices and (3)legal framework for enforcement of IPR. ACTA was launched in 2007 and the formal negotiation was started on June 2008. Governments negotiating for the implementation of ACTA include: Australia, Canada, European Union, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Morocco, New Zealand, Singapore, Switzerland , United States of America. [1]
First ACTA Signatories
On October 1, 2011, United States, Australia, Canada, Korea, Japan, New Zealand, Morocco, and Singapore signed ACTA during a ceremony in Tokyo, Japan. The remaining participants of ACTA were present during the signing ceremony and expected to seal the agreement in the future.[2]