IPO head confident US will remove RP from IPR watchlist

Intellectual Property Office (IPO) Director General Adrian Cristobal Jr. expressed optimism yesterday that the Philippines may be able to finally convince the US to remove the country from the Special 301 Watchlist as Philippine authorities firm up its Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) Action Plan.

Following a video conference with officials of the US Trade Representative (USTR) office last month, Cristobal said the USTR acknowledged the gains made by the Philippines in promoting IPR and cracking down on IPR violators.

However, Cristobal admitted the US felt that "more could be done." Philippines, According to Cristobal the has improved its position so much so that during the November out of cycle review to be conducted by the USTR, the US may have a more positive recommendation for the Philippines’ eventual removal from the 301 watchlist by April next year. According to Cristobal the IPO, together with the Department of Justice, the Philippine National Police, the National Bureau of Investigation and the Optical Media Board and even the National Telecommunications Commission, are thus firming up an IPR Plan.

The following are the components of the Action Plan: Creation of special IPR courts that would be devoted solely to resolving the 1,184 back-logged IP cases; formation of specialized DOJ prosecutors who would handle IP cases; more sustained and intensified raids of retail outlets and distribution channels of fake/ pirated DVDs, CDs and consumer products; more coordination, cooperation and consultation between the agencies involved. A Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) is being prepared to clarify jurisdiction and coordination mechanism to hear and decide IP violations; build up a database for IPR enforcers which would include names of violators, number of cases filed, monitoring of cases for prosecution, number of items seized and destroyed, numbers of illegal copying machines seized and destroyed and all information relevant for enforcement; and information education including mainstreaming the education of IP protection in grade school and highschool.

The Philippines has been in the US IPR watchlist for four years.

There had been hopes in the past years that moves by Congress and concerned government agencies to curb piracy in the country would finally convince the US to remove the Philippines from the watchlist.

One significant action was the passage of the Optical Media bill.

The Optical Media bill regulate the production, distribution and sale of DVDs and VCDs.

The passage of the Optical Media bill was one of the conditions set by the USTR for the removal of the Philippines from the 301 IPR Watchlist.