The Philippines has stayed out of watchlist of intellectual property rights (IPR) violators of the United States’ Special 301 for the past 9 years.
But Washington noted findings of a study where the country has been tagged as one of the leading sources of counterfeit medicines distributed globally.
The Special 301 report released yesterday by the US Trade Representative cited a study released in June 2021 by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) which said China, India, the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, and Pakistan are the leading sources of counterfeit medicines distributed globally.
The report said this past year during the pandemic, countries continue to report significant quantities of counterfeit imports from China, including COVID-19 testing kits, personal protective equipment (PPE) such as those air-purifying particulate respirators meeting US Department of Health certification standards (N95) and equivalent masks, sanitizers, detergents, and disinfectants.
USTR noted counterfeiters also increasingly sell counterfeit goods on online marketplaces, particularly through platforms that permit consumer-to-consumer sales.
The USTR also noted that the Philippines is among many countries that “reportedly have slow opposition or cancellation proceedings” on disputes concerning trademarks. The US has noted the need to have mechanisms to avoid litigation in cases where multiple parties claim ownership to trademarks.
But the Philippines received favorable remarks from theUSTR for being one of the countries that has rolled ut legal measures against camcording.
“The United States urges countries to adopt laws and enforcement practices designed to prevent unauthorized camcording, such as laws that have been adopted in Canada, Japan, the Philippines, and Ukraine,” the report said..
The USTR early this month released a separate report which retained Greenhills Shopping Center on the Notorious Markets List, which enumerates physical markets selling counterfeit goods.
The “Special 301” Report is an annual review of the global state of IP protection and enforcement.
USTR reviewed more than 100 trading partners for this year’s Special 301 Report, and placed 27 of them on the Priority Watch List or Watch List. The Special 301 review of Ukraine has been suspended due to Russia’s premeditated and unprovoked further invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. – Irma Isip
