IPOPhl forges partnership with Korean counterpart

MANILA, Philippines - The Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL) has forged a partnership with the Korea Copyright Commission (KCC) to work together to promote copyright awareness and protection.

In a telephone interview yesterday, IPOPHL director general Ricardo Blancaflor said a memorandum of understanding (MOU) was signed by the agency with the KCC during the Korea-Philippines Copyright Forum held on Thursday.

“Under the MOU, we will share information on enforcement of copyrights. Korea is very developed in terms of copyright protection so we want to work with them,” he said.

The MOU will allow both countries to share best practices concerning copyright systems as well as the effective use of such to promote cultural development.

Blancaflor said the IPOPHL which has signed a similar MOU with Japan, is planning to forge partnerships with other countries on copyright protection.

The IPOPHL official is set to sign a similar MOU with his counterpart in France next week.

“Many countries want to deal with the Philippines because they respect our IP enforcement efforts,” he said.

The Korea-Philippines Copyright Forum attended by copyright stakeholders engaged in the music, film, education, book and visual arts industry, law firms handling IP as well as government institutions relating to the culture and the arts, was held not only to provide the latest copyrights issues and trends in both countries but also to create a forum to exchange ideas and strengthen relationships among key institutions.

Blancaflor said the MOU and the forum are in line with the IPOPHL’s aim to increase awareness as well as improve enforcement of IP rights to keep the Philippines out of the Office of the US Trade Representative’s list of countries considered to have IP problems.

The Philippines was removed from the USTR’s Special 301 Watch List released in April given legislative and regulatory reforms to enhance the protection and enforcement of IP in the country.