Ayala Center Cebu to compel tenants not to sell fake goods

CEBU, Philippines - In its effort to fully promote Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) compliance, Ayala Center Cebu (ACC) vows to encourage tenants to avoid selling imitations or pirated products inside the mall.

ACC division head Joy Polloso said that while the mall’s operation has employed all-original software products, making them one of the first beneficiaries of the recently launched Intellectual Property (IP) Seal of the Intellectual Property Office (IPO), tenants should also be properly educated in terms of selling original products.

“We are trying to put an effort as part of the house rules in the mall, and not encourage them [tenants] to promote imitation products,” Polloso said.

According to Polloso, ACC is proud to be a software compliant institution—this will also encourage tenants to do the same.

Part of ACC’s efforts is to educate mall tenants in promoting IPR, through seminars and other events that promote IPR compliance.

First, is to encourage mall tenants to use licensed software in their respective operations. Trading of imitation or counterfeit products is also being seriously discouraged.

Some tenants in most of the malls in Cebu still carry imitation products, especially in the RTW (ready-to-wear) stores and boutiques, as well as in tiangge-type stalls.

Department of Trade and Industry Provincial Office director Nelia F. Navarro hopes that ACC will initiate this move in encouraging mall tenants to only sell original items. This way, other malls will also implement their own programs to completely eradicate counterfeit or imitation products inside the malls.

According to Navarro, making Cebu as one of the few cities that actively promotes high IPR implementation will not only benefit consumers, but also the entire economy in general.

“We will try to encourage other malls to follow suit with Ayala Center’s example,” Navarro said adding that other retail institutions especially the mall operators who are trying to get ISO certification should execute strict house rules when it comes to illegal piracy trade.

The IP Coalition recently launched the IP Seal in Cebu, with CHI, and Campaigns and Ads (CAMP Cebu) as the first two recipient of the IP Seal.

The IP Coalition, an umbrella organization of private intellectual property (IP) stakeholders and associations in the Philippines, aims at recognizing Cebu businesses and other cities in the province that are committed to helping promote and protect IPR in their operations.

Businesses across all industries that are found to adhere to the country’s IPR laws will be given due recognition through the awarding of the IP Seal of Excellence. The IP Seal of Excellence also qualifies the recipient to one-year immunity from software piracy enforcement initiated by the Business Software Alliance (BSA), subject to applicable terms and conditions.

Also, businesses that earn the IP Seal will also be featured in the IP Coalition website as well as the website of other IPC members and partners.

“The IP Seal represents a seal of approval and endorsement for companies from the IP community for being good corporate citizens that respect and adhere to the country’s IPR laws,” said IP Coalition secretary general Jun Rodriguez.