Gov't to beef up efforts to fight counterfeiting: official

MANILA, Philippines (Xinhua) - The government will "work harder" in its quest to fight against piracy and counterfeiting in order to get removed from the United States Trade Representative's (USTR) piracy watch list, a senior government official said here today.

Ricardo Blancaflor, Director General of the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHIL), vowed to make " vigorous efforts" to strictly enforce the intellectual property rights (IPRs) by law enforcement agencies in the country.

"Law enforcement agencies involved in IPR work...will work harder in fighting piracy and counterfeiting," Blancaflor said.

In the latest Special 301 Report, the Philippines was retained on the ordinary watch list of IPR violators due to piracy concerns of the United States over the Internet.

IPOPHIL hopes that the Philippines will be removed from the USTR list after the U.S. conduct of an off-cycle review.

IPOPHIL has made some progress in addressing piracy and counterfeiting activities in the country with "a record breaking volume of seizures" two years ago and the passing of the Internet treaty law last March 22, Blancaflor added.