LOS GATOS, Calif., April 23, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Intellectual property (IP) theft takes many forms and has cost the U.S. economy thousands of jobs and billions of dollars in revenue. With these numbers showing no sign of declining, AGMA, a nonprofit organization and the largest group solely focused on intellectual property protection in the high-tech industry, has announced that its membership continues to grow. Several new member companies have joined AGMA on its mission to hinder threats to IP and render these activities more difficult, undesirable and unprofitable – adding their voices to a lineup that includes the tech sector’s most influential companies.
As an industry association, AGMA is chartered with addressing key threats to intellectual property in the high-tech industry. These threats come in a variety of forms – including gray marketing, counterfeiting, service and warranty fraud, and digital IP theft. AGMA’s goal is to educate the industry and the public by sharing and developing best practices in the fight against IP theft. AGMA employs a number of tactics, including event speaking, educational initiatives, benchmark studies, industry guidelines, and public policy advocacy.
According to Christopher Horne, security director for longtime AGMA member Hewlett Packard Enterprise, participation in AGMA over the years has been highly beneficial when it comes to protecting the company’s brand equity. “AGMA membership has been a positive addition to Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s brand protection efforts,” Horne noted. “The diverse conferences are terrific, with exciting presentations by knowledgeable speakers. Free expert training sessions provide additional value, but the true strength of AGMA comes from the networking with fellow members, expert guests and diverse sponsors. I have expanded my professional network and built long-lasting relationships thanks to the dynamic and professional industry leaders who I’ve met through AGMA and the work they do to enhance awareness of brand protection in the industry.”
There are many benefits to becoming an AGMA member. AGMA provides an open forum where intellectual property brand owners can discuss trends, issues and approaches to combat gray market fraud and counterfeiting in the technology sector. It also uses a variety of avenues to get its message out and cultivate change in the marketplace, including event speaking, educational initiatives, benchmark studies, white papers, industry guidelines, and, as appropriate, public policy advocacy in areas like law enforcement and customs.
For many companies, AGMA plays an integral role in their overall brand protection strategies – including Avaya, a long-standing AGMA member. “The opportunities within AGMA to share best practices within the high-tech industry and the insight gained through this process with our peers have been invaluable as Avaya continues to develop a robust brand protection program,” noted Avaya Inc. Senior Director of Brand Protection Cary Gumbert. “Keeping ahead of the changing industry landscape and ever-present threats to intellectual property is an ever-evolving process.”
“Since 2001, we’ve been focusing on these very serious issues that the high-tech industry continues to face,” said AGMA President Sally Nguyen. “Our mission at AGMA is to ensure that technology companies have access to the insights and best practices needed to effectively address a broad range of brand protection issues. The fact that industry heavyweights continue to join our ranks is proof positive that these issues remain top of mind in the tech world – and that our efforts are being noticed.”
To learn more about AGMA or to become a member, please visit www.agmaglobal.org or call (252) 500-0123.
About AGMA
AGMA is a nonprofit organization comprised of influential companies in the technology sector. Incorporated in 2001, AGMA’s mission is to address gray market fraud, parallel imports, counterfeiting, software piracy, and service abuse of technology products around the globe. The organization’s goals are to protect intellectual property and authorized distribution channels, improve customer satisfaction and preserve brand integrity.
AGMA welcomes technology manufacturers, as well as persons or entities that own or hold intellectual property rights to finished goods outside the technology industry; government and law enforcement officials; product and service providers who provide goods and/or services to combat gray market fraud, counterfeiting and warranty and service abuse threats. AGMA uses a variety of avenues to cultivate change in the marketplace, including event speaking, educational initiatives, benchmark studies, industry guidelines, and, where appropriate, public policy advocacy. To learn more about AGMA’s initiatives or to become a member, please visit www.agmaglobal.org or follow them on LinkedIn and Twitter.
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