Value of fake goods seized up 121%

The value of counterfeit items sei ed by the government surged by percent in the anuary to February period compared to last year, the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL) said.

Data from the IPOPHL show the government confiscated P . billion worth of counterfeit goods in the first two months of the year compared to the P . million in the same period a year ago.

“The increase was due to the big sei ures of joint operations of BOC (Bureau of Customs) and NBI ( National Bureau of Investigation), IPOPHL director general Ricardo Blancaflor said in a text message yesterday.

The combined value of fake or pirated items obtained by the BOC and NBI jumped percent to P . billion as of end-February from P . million in the comparable period in .

The Optical Media Board also supported the increase as the value of its hauled counterfeit items went up . percent to P . million for the two-month period from P . million a year ago.

The Philippine National Police (PNP), however, did not have any sei ed counterfeit items for the anuary to February period this year.

For the same two- month period in , the PNP got counterfeit goods valued at P , .

Earlier, Blancaflor said the IPOPHL is aiming for a recordhigh value of confiscated counterfeit items this year.

In , the government sei ed a total of P . billion worth of counterfeit items, the highest in history.

Blancaflor said the IPOPHL intends to work with the private sector to achieve record counterfeit sei ures this year.

In particular, the government wants to work with pharmaceutical companies to enforce intellectual property rights and be able to confiscate fake medicines sold in the market.

The government also intends to put more focus on counterfeit automotive and motorcycle parts this year amid reports received from motor vehicle and motorcycle parts distributors.

The value of counterfeit items sei ed by the government reached a total of P . billion in .