IPOPHL seeks to eradicate ‘counterfeits’ in Greenhills

The Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL) has proposed a work plan to rid counterfeit activities in the Greenhills Shopping Center, which has remained in the list of the United States Trade Representative’s (USTR) Notorious Markets for Counterfeiting and Piracy for the past five years.

The annual Notorious Markets List highlights online and physical markets that reportedly engage in or facilitate substantial trademark counterfeiting or copyright piracy. The 2022 List, released 31 January 2023, flagged 39 online markets and 33 physical markets worldwide, including Greenhills of San Juan City.

A famous shopping hub with over 2,000 indoor and outdoor stores, Greenhills reportedly houses storefronts selling counterfeit goods, including electronics, perfumes, watches, shoes, accessories and fashion items.

In a statement, IPOPHL Director General Rowel S. Barba said the draft plan is currently under review by the NCIPR members who are expected to indicate what they can contribute to each proposed strategy. IPOPHL is acting chair of the 15-member National Committee on IP Rights. The committee is slated to meet late February.

Major strategies under the proposed work plan include strengthening the NCIPR’s collaboration with Greenhills with hopes of compelling the shopping center to implement stricter monitoring of their stalls and impose heftier penalties against sellers of counterfeit products.

Under the work plan, the NCIPR will also coordinate with brand owners to actively submit Affidavits of Complaints to Greenhills – to indicate their expression of filing a legal complaint and as notice to the mall’s management of potential violators. IPOPHL will also help vendors appreciate the long-term value of respecting others’ IP rights and creating their own IP-protected products.

IPOPHL also hopes to compel local government units (LGUs) to fully enforce the IP Code of 1997 and the Department of Interior and Local Government’s (DILG) IPrelated issuances, namely Memorandum Circular (MC) 2020-124 and MC 2022-055.

MC 2020-124 mandates local offices to issue an ordinance that will, among others, cancel business permits of IP-violating shops while MC 2022-055 encourages LGUs to adopt their respective Anti-Counterfeit and Anti-Piracy Policies to promote IP respect in the workplace.

But Barba acknowledged that clearing Greenhills of IP infringement activities will not be an easy feat.

“Its long-standing reputation as a market for Class As and Bs and pirated DVDs has cut across generations. The problem demands the close and consistent collaboration among NCIPR members, local governments, brand owners and Greenhills – both its managers and vendors. Equally important is the role of consumers whom we continuously enlighten about the possible harms of counterfeiting to their health, lives and households, as well as to the environment and the economy in the bigger picture and longer term,” Barba said.

The IPOPHL chief added that the agency will also be drafting separate work plans for Baclaran markets, Divisoria markets and the Cartimar Shopping Center, which had been cited in the European Commission’s latest Counterfeit and Piracy Watch List.