The Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit (PIPCU) is a unit of the City of London Police, the national lead force for fraud. It was established in 2013[1] with the responsibility to investigate and deter serious and organised intellectual property crime in the United Kingdom.
It is based in City of London Police's headquarters at Guildhall Yard East. The unit consists of 19 police officers and staff, including detectives and police staff investigators.
Part of PIPCU's remit[2] is to protect consumers from harm, focusing on intellectual property crime that has public safety implications. Since its inception, it has investigated intellectual property crime worth more than £100 million concerning counterfeit goods or digital piracy, and suspended 28,000 websites[3] selling counterfeit goods. These websites have also been linked to identity theft.