THE United States Trade Representative (USTR) kept the Philippines out of its watch list of countries with intellectual property (IP) concerns and even recognized the country’s efforts to combat counterfeiting and piracy.
“We welcome the overall positive assessment of the USTR on the Philippine IP environment. This is yet another testament that the IP Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL) and the National Committee on IP Rights (NCIPR) remain steadfast in fostering innovation, creativity and entrepreneurship and preserving the country’s attractiveness as a destination for foreign IP assets to thrive,” IPOPHL Director General Rowel S. Barba said.
As evidenced by the USTR 2022 Special 301 Report that was released last month, IPOPHL collaborated with the World IP Organization (WIPO) for a nationwide survey to measure IP level awareness and identify gaps and priority areas.
“The Philippines also continues to conduct workshops for law enforcement officers and public prosecutors with the objective to strengthen coordination and capacity on enforcement,” the report read.
Barba also gave credit to partnerships and capacity building as these factors contributed to IPOPHL’s continuing growth as an IP rights-conscious country.
“Our continuing growth as an IP rights-conscious country is evident in these best practices. But our commitment in the past years toward a more secure IP system goes beyond these examples. We have undertaken a wide array of partnerships, capacity building and promotions and this has helped us stay out of the USTR’s watch list for good,” Barba noted.
Barba also lauded the National Committee on IP Rights’ (NCIPR) thrust toward clearing the markets of pirated content and counterfeit goods, including the one in Greenhills Shopping Center in San Juan City, which is the lone Philippine market in the USTR’s Notorious Markets List for Counterfeiting and Piracy.
In early April, the 15-member NCIPR under the IPOPHL spearheaded the seizure of P63 million worth of suspected counterfeit goods at the Greenhills Shopping Center.
NCIPR, a member of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), was able to seize 755 pieces of fake Louis Vuitton products at the popular shopping center.
Barba also earlier stressed that the famous shopping center’s reputation as go-to for fake goods would taint the country’s reputation, eventually affecting its economic interests in the United States and other trading partners that highly value IP protection.
Other recent efforts include the promotion of Anti-Counterfeit and Anti-Piracy (ACAP) policies, which has since been taken on by private partners and government agencies.
The enforcement of Anti-Camcording in the Philippines was also mentioned as the Report pointed out that countries “need to update legal frameworks to effectively deter unauthorized camcording and keep up with changing practices.”
“The improvements in our battle against counterfeiting and piracy have always been attributed to our whole-of-nation approach. Best IP practices can start in each company, institution, barangay and down to our own homes,” Barba said.
Fake meds
Meanwhile, in relation to medicines, the USTR Special 301 Report alleged once again that the Philippines, along with China, India, Vietnam, Indonesia and Pakistan, is among the top countries that are sources of counterfeit medicines globally.
The USTR cited data from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the European Union IP Office (EUIPO).
“The data from the OECD and EUIPO presented in the ‘Trade in Counterfeit Pharmaceutical Products’ publication dates back to 2014-2016. Thus, it fails to consider subsequent efforts taken and more recent data. Regardless, we are strengthening our efforts to ensure that our pharmaceutical industry remains trusted and capacitated to combat the effects of counterfeiting,” Deputy Director General Teodoro C. Pascua said.
Pascua noted that IPOPHL recently partnered with the Pharmaceutical Security Institute (PSI) to form a framework for capacity building, awareness and vital information exchange relevant to curb the circulation of counterfeit medicines.
Intellectual Property Rights Enforcement Office (IEO) data show pharmaceutical and medical products making up 4.4 percent of the total counterfeiting complaints and reports received by IPOPHL in 2021.
As for the opposition and cancellation proceedings, the USTR Report said “many countries, including India, Malaysia and the Philippines, reportedly have slow opposition or cancellation proceedings.” However, no details were provided to support this allegation.
Nevertheless, Barba said the Bureau of Legal Affairs (BLA) has already introduced “game-changing” rules to reduce the timelines of the decision and disposal of these cases.
“The IPOPHL is right on track to make the opposition and cancellation proceedings one of the fastest in the Asean region, as our BLA targets to resolve this year the remaining opposition and cancellation cases filed in 2019 to 2021, including appeals to the Director from the decisions of the adjudication officers,” Barba said.
The Special 301 Report is the USTR’s annual review of concerns and developments in IP protection and enforcement in the markets of US trading partners.