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AMERICAN
businessmen have commended the Philippines for leading
the way in the fight against intellectual property
rights (IPR) violations in the region.
Liam
Benham, Ford’s vice president for governmental affairs,
Asia-Pacific and Africa, said in a statement they made
comparisons on the way Asean countries are tackling IPR
issues, and the Philippines came out to be the most
serious in the region.
“We keep
a very watchful eye on IPR issues around the region. As
a major investor in the country, we have been struck by
how serious the Philippine government is in addressing
these issues,” said Benham.
He was
part of the mission sent by the US-Asean Business
Council to a recent three-day visit here. The mission’s
aim is to facilitate a dialogue between US businesses
and Philippine government officials to boost investment
and trade in the country after agreeing on cooperation
in several concerns, including IPR protection.
Matthew
Daley, president of the US-Asean Business Council, said
IPR protection is an important factor for US businessmen
in determining their investment destinations.
Countries with a strong regime on intellectual property,
Daley said, have been able to attract large-scale
investments and it is a positive thing that council
members cited gains made by the country in sustaining
efforts on this aspect. “We attach a great deal of
importance to the work of IP Philippines. It is not only
for our business interests, but for the development of
the Philippines as well.”
Since
the creation of the National Committee for Intellectual
Property Rights in 2005, the government had been able to
confiscate billions of pesos worth of counterfeit items,
machines and paraphernalia.
From
January to September this year alone, combined efforts
of the enforcement agencies of the committee yielded an
estimated seized value of P2.3 billion worth of
counterfeit goods, already exceeding the 2006 total haul
of P1.3 billion.
IP
Philippines director general Adrian Cristobal Jr., said,
however, that much work still needs to be done to
improve on the prosecution aspect of the fight against
IPR violators owing to the snail-pace resolution of
court cases. |
