THE Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL) may soon have the authority to take down posts and web sites that breach IP laws under its revised enforcement rules.
As part of efforts against counterfeiting and piracy, the IPOPHL is moving to amend its “Rules and Regulations in the Exercise of Enforcement Functions and Visitorial Power.” Enhancements to the rules will expand the agency’s capacity to go after idea pirates and concept counterfeiters in the digital space.
Ann N. Edillon, OIC of the IPOPHL’s Enforcement Office (IEO), said the proposed amendments will allow her department, pursuant to an administrative case filed before it, to take down posts online that are offering counterfeit items and pirated media for sale.
“The way to go about it would depend on the facts before the IEO,” Edillon said in a statement on Saturday. “We may order the immediate blocking of a seller; but we will not necessarily do that all the time.”
“However, we will definitely always call the platform to immediately exercise its IP policy aside from possibly directing it to remove an infringing post,” she added.
If an online seller resists in complying with an IEO directive, the IPOPHL can lodge formal charges against it before the pertinent local government unit or the Department of Trade and Industry. In turn, the local government unit can revoke the online seller’s business permit.
Also, the revised rules will expand the definition of enforcement order to give the IPOPHL the power to instruct the deletion of an infringing online site; issue a cease and desist; and require the removal of fake goods from digital platforms and physical establishments.
Further, the IPOPHL can soon ask the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) to cut access to an online site found breaking IP laws. Like in most state agencies, the NTC is usually confined to implementing orders issued by the courts, Edillon said.
With the NTC nearing to be covered by IPOPHL orders, Edillon argued this will step up IP laws enforcement in the country, particularly in shutting piracy sites that had proliferated during the quarantine.
In April the IPOPHL reported a surge in piracy cases, mostly illegal streaming and downloading of films, at the outset of the lockdown. Based on official records, complaints on counterfeiting totaled at 21 in March alone, surpassing the 14 cases filed for the whole of 2019.
Roughly 20 percent—four to be exact— of the IP complaints involved the illegal streaming and downloading of movies, marking the first piracy cases of the year.
The IP registry in June consulted with stakeholders, mostly brand owners and law firms, on the proposed amendments to its enforcement rules. The inputs gathered from that discussion were considered in the crafting of the revisions that, once finalized, will be elevated to the director general for approval.