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THE
Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IP
Philippines) on Monday announced that the country
maintained its standing on the “ordinary watch list” in
the Special 301 annual report conducted by the Office of
the United States Trade Representative (USTR).
US
Embassy officials formally notified IP Philippines that
after careful evaluation of the state of intellectual
property rights (IPR) in the country, the Philippines
maintains status quo on the ordinary watch list, an IP
Philippines press release said.
“The
United States acknowledges the continuing efforts to
increase enforcement actions against pirated optical
disc-production facilities and retail establishments. We
also recognize the continuing efforts of the
Intellectual Property Office to coordinate among IPR
enforcement agencies,” the US Embassy said.
Lawyer
Adrian Cristobal Jr., IP Philippines director general,
said, “This is a clear recognition of the government’s
political commitment to strengthen the IPR regime in the
country, and the sustained campaign against
counterfeiters.”
“Credit
goes to the enforcement agencies of the National
Committee on IPR [NCIPR] namely, the Philippine National
Police, the National Bureau of Investigation, the
Optical Media Board, the Bureau of Customs [BOC] and the
Department of Justice.”
“The
enforcement agencies have accelerated their momentum.
Enforcement operations yielded close to P3 billion worth
of pirated items in 2007, higher by P497 million than
the combined figures of 2005 and 2006,” Cristobal said.
This is
the third year that the country is on the ordinary watch
list, which includes countries that the USTR perceives
to have problems on IP protection and enforcement that
requires bilateral talks or attention.
The US
government removed the Philippines from the Priority
Watch List (PWL) and placed it on the lower level of the
ordinary watch list in 2006. The country stayed on the
same list in 2007, the IP office said.
The 29
other trading partners of the US on the 2007 lower-level
watch list were Belarus, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica,
Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, Hungary,
Indonesia, Jamaica, Kuwait, Lithuania, Malaysia, Mexico,
Pakistan, Peru, Poland, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Taiwan,
Tajikstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Vietnam.
Developed countries
Canada,
Italy and Korea were also on the ordinary watch list.
Before
the improvement on the country’s standing, the
Philippines had been on the PWL for five consecutive
years, from 2001 to 2005. PWL-classified countries do
not provide enough IPR protection or enforcement of laws
protecting IPR, or market access for persons relying on
intellectual property are included in the PWL.
The US
Embassy, likewise, encouraged the Philippine government
to adopt and implement an IPR action plan for 2008 that
will address the concerns raised.
The
NCIPR has an action plan for 2007 to 2008 with seven
strategic components: public information and education;
effective enforcement; copyright protection; judicial
reforms, adjudication and alternatives; policy and
legislation; interagency work and public-private
partnerships; and international cooperation, the IP
Philippines said.
The US
Embassy also voiced concerns of US rights holders on
lack of results in certain areas of the IPR regime, and
the persistence of high levels of piracy and
counterfeiting in the Philippines, the news release
said.
The
rights holders’ concern stem from lack of progress to
successfully prosecute and convict IPR violators,
institutionalize permanent IP units in BOC and other
enforcement agencies, legislation that would weaken
patent protection for pharmaceuticals and the illegal
downloading of copyright material to mobile devices.
Cristobal said the
Philippines
has made impressive gains on several fronts against IPR
violations for the past three years. Moving and managing
these cases of IP violators in the court is the biggest
challenge for the country. But this will be addressed
vigorously through closer cooperation with the
judiciary. |
