US dissatisfied with PHL anti-piracy moves

While the Philippines has made inroads in enacting intellectual property laws, the United States has remained dissatisfied with the country’s efforts, the United States Trade Representative (USTR) said in its recent report. In its annual report on intellectual property rights (IPRs) released this month, the USTR recognized the Philippines for enacting a law in 2010 to address the unauthorized camcording of movies in theaters. “However, despite an increase in enforcement efforts, pirated and counterfeit goods remain widely available in the Philippines," the USTR said in its report titled the 2011 Special 301 Report on Intellectual Property Rights. The Philippines has remained on the United States anti-piracy watch list since 2006. Poor enforcement The USTR said an “inefficient" justice system has hampered the heightened enforcement of anti-piracy laws, “with very few criminal IPR cases resulting in convictions over the last decade." “In addition, the judiciary’s decisions with respect to provisional measures, in particular on whether to maintain or revoke search and seizure orders, have not been predictable," the USTR said. “The United States encourages the Philippines to continue efforts to reform its judicial system, including by designating particular courts to adjudicate civil and criminal IPR cases, and by promulgating specialized IPR procedural rules that would streamline the judicial process for IPR cases," the agency added. ‘Notorious’ Quiapo market In a report early this year, the USTR labeled the Quiapo district in Manila as one of 33 hotspots in the world for Internet and physical piracy. The USTR described Quiapo as “one example of several locations and neighborhoods, especially in Metropolitan Manila, known to deal in counterfeit and pirated goods such as clothing, shoes, watches and handbags." The report recommends the imposition of trade barriers or sanctions on US trading partners that are deemed to lack IPR protection. The Philippines considers the US as one of its leading trade partners, with US exports to the Philippines in 2010 up by 27.9 percent year-on-year to $7.4 billion. In the same period, US imports from the Philippines went up by 17.5 percent to $8 billion. — PE/VS, GMA News