IPR concerns raised anew 

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While confident the Philippines will stay out of the United States  watchlist on intellectual property violators, the government has taken active steps to address remaining concerns on piracy and counterfeiting.

Rowel Barba, director-general of the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL) told reporters the US in recent months has raised alarm over the proliferation of so-called black boxes or illegal streaming devices that have US content.

Barba said the  American Apparel and Footwear Association has also renewed calls for the inclusion of the Philippines in the watchlist for the country’s alleged failure to clamp down counterfeit products.

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According to Barba, IPOPHL is coordinating with the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) on how to stop the trade of the black boxes.

Sold in the open market, these black boxes cost P20,000 per unit for unlimited access to American channels.

Barba said in the absence of a law, IPOPHL can only exercise its power over the pirated content offered by the illegal streaming device while NTC has jurisdiction over the hardware.

“The most that we can do is confiscate the devices,” said Barba.

IPOPHL is also coordinating with  the Philippine National Police and the National Bureau of Investigation for the confiscation operations and with the Bureau of Customs since these devices are imported.

Barba said IPOPHL is also utilizing the World Intellectual Property Office Alert, a database of  pirated websites across different economies, so it can take immediate takedown action.

He said next steps will depend on the results of the test buys of the black boxes and the coordination with the agencies.

On counterfeiting, Barba said meetings under the auspices of the International Trademark have also brought to the fore concerns of the US on alleged lack of enforcement and slow progress in prosecution and conviction of cases.

These same issues were raised in the National Trade Estimate report of the USTR recently.

Proliferation of  counterfeit goods, including apparel, shoes, watches, jewelry, perfume, and electronics has led to the continued inclusion of Manila’s Greenhills Shopping Center in the 2023 Review of Notorious Markets for Counterfeiting and Piracy.

According to Barba, the United States Trade Representative and the United States Patent and Trademark Office have acknowledged the efforts undertaken by the Philippines, including the record haul of counterfeit goods by the National Inter-agency  Committee on IPR of P26.8 billion and a memorandum of understanding with the Department of Justice to fastback the resolution of IPR violation cases in  courts.

The Special 301 report on IPR protection will be released later this month.

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