The Philippines has maintained its standing as one of the countries with effective intellectual protection rights policy based on the annual “Special 301” report published by the Office of the United States Trade Representative.
The Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines said with the release of the new report, it would continue efforts to curb violations and re-educate the Filipinos about piracy and the protection of intellection property.
“This is a recognition of our hard work and sustained drive to improve the protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights in the country. It means that our national government gives priority to IP as a tool for economic development,” said IPOPhl acting director general and officer-in-charge Allan Gepty.
Gepty said the good news was a testament of the good coordination and working relationship of various government agencies involved in IP enforcement, particularly members of the National Committee for Intellectual Property Rights, Philippine Judicial Academy and the judiciary for continuously building capacity for special commercial court judges and court attorneys.
“It is also an indication of our productive partnership with the private sector. With an effective and reliable IP regime, we can expect more foreign investments, particularly IP intensive industries, in the country and improved competitiveness,” Gepty said.
The USTR report said the Philippines, together with Paraguay, had committed to a whole-of-government approach to IPR enforcement that has been critical to enhancing the effectiveness of IPR enforcement and resulted in positive reports from a number of affected stakeholder groups.
It said the Philippines carried out administrative enforcement reforms that had resulted in streamlined procedures, enhanced inter-agency cooperation and more enforcement action, including increased seizures of pirated and counterfeit goods.
The 2015 report said trading partners on the priority watch list presented the most significant concerns, regarding insufficient IPR protection or enforcement or actions that otherwise limited market access for persons relying on intellectual property protection.
