The Center for Anti-Counterfeiting and Product Protection (A-CAPP) at Michigan State University has formed important partnerships with companies across many industry sectors. Every one of those partnerships is important, and most – like UL – grow stronger and more multi-dimensional.
UL, which began as Underwriters’ Electric Bureau in 1894, has been conducting tests and providing certifications for over 100 years, helping keep people safe worldwide. The company has been involved in anti-counterfeiting efforts since the early 1990s and appreciates the value that a strong academic approach can bring to its work. That’s where Michigan State University’s A-CAPP Center comes in.
The A-CAPP Center, the first and only academic body focusing on the complex global issues of anti-counterfeiting and protection of all products and brands, across all industries, and in all markets, serves as an international hub for the development and dissemination of evidence-based anti-counterfeit and brand protection strategy. UL is one of several companies with a formal partnership agreement with A-CAPP, but its support has extended to multiple contributions in support of A-CAPP’s outreach, education and research activities, including papers on the future of brand protection and on counterfeits in the electronics industry as well as joint conferences and training programs.
“The industry-academic partnership we have formed with UL has not only added considerable value to the development of our center’s scientific and educational foundation, it has propelled forward the field of brand protection in innumerable ways,” said A-CAPP Center Director and School of Criminal Justice Professor Jeremy Wilson.
Additional contributions by UL to the A-CAPP Center include support for a brand protection summit for brand owners that the center hosted on campus on October 7 and 8, and support for the A-CAPP Center’s executive education program. The latter gift allowed the center to hold training sessions for brand owners in Oak Brook, IL and St. Petersburg, FL, and also helped in offering its first international executive training session to brand owners and law enforcement in Buenos Aires as part of the Interpol Intellectual Property Crime Enforcement Conference.
“UL has been one of our strongest partners in developing and sharing lessons to help industry and law enforcement combat product counterfeits,” Wilson added.
At the event in St. Petersburg, UL honored Wilson with an award in recognition of his support and commitment to protecting the integrity of the UL mark.
Brian Monks, UL’s Vice President of Global Security and Brand Protection, said UL values the partnership with the A-CAPP Center. “They have participated in brand protection conferences we’ve held around the globe, including in Dubai, Ireland, Scotland and Los Angeles,” he said. “Dr. Wilson and his team are dedicated to anti-counterfeiting issues, and their expertise is appreciated by UL and many other organizations. UL is a global leader in brand protection and appreciates the role of academia in addressing complex global problems. MSU can and will play a pivotal role in the advancement of IP protection and the innovative solutions that will be required in the future to thwart the increasingly sophisticated criminal element. ”