Search engine giant Google recently began implementing a new policy designed to assist intellectual property owners in protecting their assets.

The new policy will affect Google's Instant tool, which presents users with search results before they confirm their search, as well as the Autocomplete feature.

Autocomplete predicts search terms before the user finishes typing.

Terms associated with download sites and other services that infringe intellectual property laws have now been filtered out of the Autocomplete and Instant tools.

Google first announced its intention to take measures against software piracy sites in December.

Ken Walker, general counsel for Google, said that the web contains "some pretty fantastic stuff - content that makes us think, laugh and learn new things." According to Walker, Google is working to mitigate the actions of "bad apples who use the internet to infringe copyright."

In addition to removing terms from the Autocomplete and Instant tools, Google has announced a series of other measures designed to protect intellectual property. These include acting on copyright takedown requests within 24 hours and improving the piracy review process for the company's AdSense service.