Phl hopes to be out of US IPR watchlist soon

MANILA, Philippines - The Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL) is hopeful that the country would be removed from the US government’s watchlist of countries with intellectual property rights (IPR) violations this year as it is set to report on the progress made on IPR enforcement.

In a telephone interview, IPOPHL director general Ricardo Blancaflor said the agency will send a representative to the US this January to provide an update on the efforts being taken to enforce IPR, as well as on the implementation of the amended IP Code.

“(IPOPHL) deputy director General Allan Gepty is going there (US) in January to give an update. They (US government) want to know what we’re doing on IPR,” he said.

In the Office of the US Trade Representative’s (USTR) 2013 Special 301 Report, the Philippines was retained in the watchlist of countries with IP violations, subject to further review of progress in key areas.

Countries placed on the watch list are those which need to address underlying IPR problems.

The USTR said in the report it wants the Philippines to take important steps to address piracy over the Internet.

It also said that while the Philippine government has already moved to modernize its copyright and IPR enforcement regimes with the amendment of the IP Code, it needs to see the implementing regulations that will further strengthen and clarify the law.

Republic Act 10372 or the Amendments to the IP Code was signed by President Aquino in February last year.

The amended IP Code gives the IPOPHL enforcement and visitorial powers.

Under the amended IP Code, the IPOPHL is also authorized to create the Bureau of Copyright, which will play a role in promoting awareness on IPR and be responsible for the accreditation of collective management organizations or those which will collect royalties for copyrighted works being used in public places for commercial purposes.

Blancaflor said that even as he is of the view the country should have been removed from the watchlist two years ago, the government will continue to work on increasing IPR awareness and improved enforcement.

“We will just continue doing our work,” he said.

The value of counterfeit items seized by the government reached a total of P7.76 billion in 2013, up 47.40 percent from the P5.27 billion haul a year earlier.

For this year, Blancaflor said the government is aiming to achieve higher collections and  beat the P8.3-billion record-high value of counterfeit items confiscated in 2011.