IPOPHL lauds Philippines exclusion from US IP list

MANILA, Philippines — The Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL) welcomed the country’s exclusion from the US government’s latest list of countries tagged with IP rights issues, and vowed to address concerns raised on counterfeit medicines.

“We welcome the country’s continued exclusion from the Special 301 priority lists,” IPOPHL deputy director general Teodoro Pascua said.

The Office of the US Trade Representative Special 301 report, is released every year, identifies countries where IP protection and enforcement is weak and where US individuals relying on IP protection encounter difficulty in fair and equitable market access.

The Philippines has consistently been out of the report since 2014.

Pascua attributed the latest development to the efforts of the 12-member National Committee on IP Rights (NCIPR) in strengthening the legal and policy infrastructure of the IP system; streamlining litigation procedures while enhancing alternative tracks for dispute resolution; engaging with critical players in various sectors; spearheading effective and efficient IP systems across the Association of Southeast Asian Nations; and improving enforcement efforts.

Apart from IPOPHL, NCIPR is composed of the Department of Trade and Industry, Department of Justice, Bureau of Customs (BOC), Food and Drug Administration (FDA), National Bureau of Investigation, Philippine National Police, Optical Media Board, National Book Development Board, Office of the Special Envoy on Transnational Crime, Department of the Interior and Local Government, and National Telecommunications Commission.

While the Philippines was kept out of the Special 301 list, the US said the Philippines which has been identified as one of the leading sources of counterfeit medicines distributed globally by the recent study by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, is a concern.

Other countries identified by the study as leading sources of counterfeit medicines apart from the Philippines are China, India, Vietnam, Indonesia and Pakistan.

In response to the concern, Pascua said the NCIPR has been actively addressing the issue of counterfeit medicines.

“Any issue on public health is a major concern. Hence, heightened vigilance will be taken as the Philippines does not and cannot tolerate activities that put human lives at risk.

In fact, IPOPHL in its legislative agenda, proposed much steeper penalties on counterfeiting of medicines and other products which pose danger to life and health,” he said.

FDA, which has jurisdiction over pharmaceuticals, is taking the lead in programs to seize counterfeit pharmaceuticals and prevent their entry into the country by working with the BOC.

With more individuals purchasing goods on e-commerce platforms, NCIPR is also developing a protocol for reporting and investigating possible counterfeit pharmaceutical products sold online.

In addition to counterfeit medicines, the US said the Philippines needs to put in place measures to ensure government agencies use only legitimate software.

The issue on Philippine government agencies’ use of unlicensed software was also raised in last year’s report.

IPOPHL said Republic Act 9184 or the Government Procurement Reform Act of 2002 mainly addresses the issue on unlicensed software as the law requires prospective bidders for the procurement of goods to submit, under oath, eligibility requirements as they go through a stringent screening that ensures winning bidders are legitimate and deal only with genuine, authorized, and good quality products.

Other earlier policies such as Executive Order 262 or Providing Policies, Guidelines, Rules and Regulations for the Procurement of Goods or Supplies by the National Government issued in 2000 and Memorandum Circular 115 issued in 1995 which directs all government offices to acquire only licensed software, also address the issue on software.