The prestigious John Rodriguez Intellectual Property Rights Award of Excellence was awarded to California State Board of Equalization (BOE) Member Jerome E. Horton in recognition for his work combatting piracy, counterfeiting, and other underground economic activity during an intellectual property crimes training class in Sacramento, on April 19. The award is in memory of Detective John Rodriguez, who was a pioneer in building the Los Angeles Police Department’s intellectual property investigations program.
It is estimated that the motion picture, pharmaceutical, music, and other industries are losing billions to brand infringement, counterfeiting, and theft of their products.
Brand owners also recognized Horton’s efforts against underground economic activity by recognizing him for his efforts combatting theft of intellectual property. They commended Member Horton’s efforts to establish the TRaCE task force, an inter-agency partnership led by the Department of Justice formed in 2014 to investigate criminal elements of the underground economy engaged in manufacturing, importation, distribution, and the sale of pirated intellectual property, as well as other crimes resulting from the evasion of business and income taxes.
“It is the men and women who fight to protect our precious tax dollars from ‘tax cheats’ who manipulate the system for their personal gain who deserve this recognition,” said Board Member Horton. “I am humbled to be one of them.”