In "Operation Infrastructure," coordinated U.S. and European authorities seized thousands of counterfeit computer components in November and December.
About 360,000 items, mostly computer networking hardware and ICs, were seized by the U.S. Customs and EC Taxation and Customs Union Directorate General.
The U.S. and EU said last year that they would establish the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement to encourage countries to follow intellectual property rights established by the World Trade Organization and other global trade groups. The agreement focuses on improved international cooperation, best practices and the establishment of a legal framework to tackle counterfeiting and protect IP rights.
Counterfeit chips bite into sales of hardware companies selling genuine chips. A common counterfeiting practice is re-marking of chips, in which counterfeiters replace the label with a different brand name and different part number.
More than 130 million counterfeit items were seized in 2006, according to a study released by the European Commission last year.