The Philippines moved a step closer toward complete removal from the US Watch List of countries with problematic intellectual-property regimes after the Supreme Court issued the rules of procedure for intellectual-property rights (IPR) cases.
Director General Ricardo R. Blancaflor of the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL) said the tribunal’s en banc or full-court promulgation of the rules on IPR cases contained in A.M. No. 10-3-10-SC is an “important victory in our campaign against counterfeiting and piracy.”
“It reinforces the Philippines’s position at the forefront of the drive to intensify intellectual-property rights protection and enforcement, not only in Asia, but in the world,” Blancaflor said.
The rules, which will become effective 15 days after publication, will govern civil and criminal actions for IPR violations lodged with the regional trial courts designated by the Supreme Court as special commercial courts.
Salient features include the conferral of authority to the special commercial courts in Quezon City, Manila, Makati and Pasig for the issuance of search and seizure warrants enforceable nationwide; the executory nature of any order issued by the courts under the rules; the submission of cases for decision immediately after pre-trial, or on the basis of position papers, or after clarificatory hearing, or after trial; presumptions and evidentiary rules for patent, trademark infringement, unfair competition, and copyright cases, and the issuance of an order of destruction of seized infringing goods any time after filing of a complaint or information, and the retention of representative samples in lieu of the actual items.
It was drafted by the special subcommittee on the rules of procedure for IPR cases composed of IPR lawyers, commercial court judges and justices of the Supreme Court.
The Philippines was recently removed from the United States Trade Representative (USTR) Out-of-Cycle Review for the IPR Watch List due to progress in its enforcement efforts.
IPOPHL Deputy Director General Allan Gepty said the rules on IPR cases will address one of the concerns mentioned by the USTR in its 2011 review for the Philippines. The failure of the Philippines to have a good conviction rate on IPR cases is a major issue the country was not delisted from the watch list.
“That will expedite the handling and prosecution of cases. This will be another strong boost to our IPR enforcement and brand owners will now have the confidence to file cases. The USTR complained there were no convictions, but that was because not too many cases were filed also. The brand owners are dissuaded by the long court process,” Gepty told the BusinessMirror.
He said with the rules on IPR cases promulgated, the dilatory tactics of lawyers will now be checked.
Gepty said the Philippines now deserves to be removed from the watch list as aside from the rules of procedure, the IPOPHL has a clear 2012 to 2016 medium-term action plan on IPR enforcement that involves all IP stakeholders.
“I hope the USTR will fully appreciate what we are doing. The next review will start in December and the report will come out probably in May next year. So we hope by then we will be taken off from the watch list,” Gepty said.
Countries that are included in the IPR Watch List are in danger of suffering trade sanctions from Washington.
