Greenhills lands on USTR’S list anew, lauds PHL drive to end piracy, counterfeiting

GREENHILLS Shopping Center, a popular shopping mall in the Philippines, has once again been cited in the United States Trade Representative (USTR) 2023 Notorious Markets for Counterfeiting and Piracy.

While the shopping mall is still included in USTR’S annual report, which was published on Tuesday, the USTR recognized the efforts being done by the Philippines in its fight against counterfeiting and piracy.

As described in the report of USTR, Greenhills Shopping Center is a large mall with many storefronts selling counterfeit goods, including electronics, perfumes, watches, shoes, accessories, and fashion items.

“The government, through the National Committee on Intellectual Property Rights, has worked with right holders and the management at Greenhills Shopping Center on enforcement against counterfeit sellers, including product seizures and legal charges against counterfeit vendors,” the USTR report read.

The office of the USTR recognized the “coordinated efforts” being done between right holders and mall management. These, it noted, included warning letters and suspension of business for repeat violators.

“Mall management, with the support of city authorities, is reportedly in the process of converting Greenhills Shopping Center into a high-end mall with legitimate sellers,” the USTR noted.

For the right holders, USTR said they acknowledged the strong partnership between various government agencies and the mall management, but said they will need to “wait and see the results.”

The USTR report flagged 18 countries with physical markets that “continue to enable substantial trade in counterfeit and pirated goods.”

Aside from the Philippines, the list includes China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, among others.

The USTR said the 2023 Review of Notorious Markets for Counterfeiting and Piracy (Notorious Markets List or NML) highlights “prominent” and illustrative examples of online and physical markets that reportedly “engage in, facilitate, turn a blind eye to, or benefit from substantial piracy or counterfeiting.”

“A goal of the NML is to motivate appropriate action by the private sector and governments to reduce piracy and counterfeiting,” the report noted.

The office of the USTR emphasized that this year’s notorious markets list includes several “previously” identified markets because “owners, operators, and governments failed to address the stated concerns.”

USTR explained that other previously identified markets may not appear in the NML for a variety of reasons, such as the market has closed or its “popularity or significance” has diminished; enforcement or voluntary action has “significantly reduced the prevalence of Ip-infringing goods or services”; market owners or operators are cooperating with right holders or government authorities to address infringement; or the market is no longer a noteworthy example of its kind.

Last year, the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL), as acting chair of the 15-member National Committee on IP Rights (NCIPR), said it proposed a work plan to tackle “long standing” counterfeit activities at the Greenhills Shopping Center as the shopping mall in San Juan City has once again been cited in the United States Trade Representative 2022 Notorious Markets for Counterfeiting and Piracy.

The proposed work plan, IPOPHL noted, includes major strategies, such as 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.

Moreover, under the work plan, the NCIPR will 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.