Economic
espionage continues to be a major concern for organisations of all sizes,
across all regions of Ireland and in virtually every sector. In recent years
the phenomenon has increased in volume, frequency and sophistication. Today, an organisation’s valuable
intellectual property (IP) includes corporate electronic communications and
files as well as traditional IP such as R&D outputs. Theft of IP is a
persistent threat, and the victims may not even know it has happened – until
counterfeit products suddenly appear on the market, or a patent based on their
R&D is registered by another company. These crimes may be carried out by
commercial competitors seeking to use the IP to advance their R&D or gain
business intelligence. This Report on Ireland is a contribution to a
comparative research project that the Max Planck Institute for Foreign and
International Criminal Law’s Department of Criminology has completed on the
regulation and control of economic espionage.