Phl excluded from EU’s IP watchlist anew

The Philippines was again excluded in the list of countries seen damaging to the intellectual property (IP) interests of businesses in the European Union.

The report on the protection and enforcement of IP rights in third countries released by the European Commission excluded the Philippines for the second consecutive reporting year.

Priority countries identified in the report are those with deficiencies in IP rights protection and enforcement that may cause economic harm to EU interests.

Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL) director general Rowel Barba said the report is testament to the whole-of-society strategy of the IPOPHL-led National Committee on Intellectual Property Rights, “as it works closely with agencies and private sector partners to create a safe and enabling climate for innovation, creativity and business in the Philippines.”

He said the continued exclusion from the list preserves the country’s attractiveness to investors, particularly those from the EU.

“A strong IP protection and enforcement is one of the key qualities in ensuring that we continue to pull in investments and promote technology transfer. We hope that with this positive development and our aggressive work to build a culture of respect for IP, IPOPHL contributes in furthering our economic relationship with the EU and ensuring that significant benefits are enjoyed on both sides,” he said.

Since the release of the previous report in January last year, there have been several major developments on IP protection and enforcement in the country.

Among the developments are the Supreme Court’s special rules on the prosecution of IP cases; progress in discussions of bills seeking to amend the IP Code by raising penalties for violations and giving the IPOPHL authority to order online sellers to take down infringing posts at the committee level; and strengthened powers for the IPOPHL’s Intellectual Property Rights Enforcement Office (IEO).

Earlier this year, e-commerce platforms Lazada and Shopee entered into a memorandum of understanding with brand owners to fight the sale of counterfeit goods online through a quick notice and take-down system of IP-offending posts.

IPOPHL through IEO is also working with different creative sectors, industry associations, local internet service providers and the National Telecommunications Commission on a mechanism for blocking of piracy sites.

Barba said the IPOPHL continues to engage with other government agencies and stakeholders to come up with measures against counterfeiting and piracy given the surge in complaints and reports received last year.

Enforcement efforts also continue to be implemented at the border and in physical markets.

“Moreover, IPOPHL is aggressive in educating society, from consumers to the youth, to adopt anti-counterfeiting and anti-piracy values and precautionary measures so that we build a culture of respect for IP rights,” Barba said.

For this year’s report, China remained on Priority 1 because of the scale and persistence of problems in the area of IPR protection and enforcement.