Philippines targets delisting from US list of intellectual property violators by 2008

The Philippine government has drawn up a blueprint to speed up the country’s full removal from the United States’ watch list of intellectual property rights (IPR) violators, an official told BusinessWorld during the weekend. The Intellectual Property Office (IPO) will be implementing additional measures, including tighter watch on retailers selling fake goods, to ensure that the Philippines will be taken out of the internationally monitored list within the next two years, director-general Adrian S. Cristobal, Jr. said in an interview. "If we really sustain our operations and the prosecution of offenders, then we are looking at a possible delisting by 2008," he said. Last month, the United States Trade Representative (USTR) office announced it had removed the Philippines from the priority watch list of IPR violators after almost five years. The USTR placed the country in the less severe "ordinary watch list" category from "priority," as it noted gains in IPR protection efforts. Mr. Cristobal said the government will be stepping up efforts to ensure full delisting by 2008. The IPO, he said, will coordinate with concerned agencies to more closely monitor the country’s mall owners and retailers. US officials have noted a significant rise in the number of stores and tiangges selling a wide array of fake goods like leather accessories, shoes, bags, home appliances as well as pirated CDs and DVDs from neighboring countries. Mr. Cristobal said that aside from clamping down on retailers, the Philippines will also enter into "cooperation agreements" with governments of neighboring Southeast Asian economies and with China to prevent the entry of fake goods into the country. "We want to strengthen border controls and see how we can stop the flow of fake goods to the Philippines," he said. He noted that at least 85% of counterfeit products and pirated CDs and DVDs are imported. The agency also wants to encourage multinational firms operating in the Philippines to file cases of copyright violations against bootleggers to give authorities the right to seize fake goods. "Authorities cannot just seize all kinds of counterfeit goods. They have to act on complaints," he said. Manila-based multinational firms like NestlÇ Philippines and Unilever Philippines have found imititations of their products being sold in the local market. Filipino clothing brand company Bench is the latest to complain to authorities about a proliferation of fake Bench products, prompting the National Bureau of Investigation to conduct raids in various retail outlets in Metro Manila. Mr. Cristobal said the IPO also hopes to step up public awareness on the hazards of buying fake goods. "We are working with the Department of Education to include IPO awareness in the curriculum. We want to educate the public that buying fake goods is not worth the price because they get poor quality," he said. The IPO will also be working with the Department of Justice to step up prosecution of cases against bootleggers. US officials have noted a dearth in prosecution of IPR cases. In 2004, authorities recorded only one prosecution out of 1,400 cases of copyright violations that were filed. -- Iris Cecilia C. Gonzales/BusinessWorld