PHL AVOIDS TAGGING BY USTR AS COUNTRY WITH ‘IP’ CONCERN

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.