Exclusion in EU IP rights watchlists makes Philippines attractive for investment

MANILA, Philippines — The country’s exclusion from the European Commission’s intellectual property (IP) rights watchlist for five years now makes the Philippines an attractive investment destination, according to the Intellectual Property Office of The Philippines (IPOPHL).

“Our exclusion from the list from 2019 signifies that we remain an attractive investment destination to trade partner’s. Truly, we have come a long way in maintaining a safe IP climate in tune with global economic standards,” IPOPHL director general Rowel Barba said in a statement yesterday.

The report is a biennial publication identifying the priority countries that pose a great level of concern to the IP-laden industries of the European Union.

China tops the list as the sole country under priority one due to the persistence of IP rights violations through piracy and counterfeiting, paired with inconsistent IPR law enforcement and application.

Under priority two, the EU Commission has flagged India, particularly for several constraints on patent protection, and Turkey, generally for their gaps in national IP enforcement.

In contrast, priority three countries consist of Argentina, Brazil, Ecuador, Indonesia, Malaysia, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia and Thailand, for varying IP protection concerns.

The report, released on May 17, cites legal uncertainties and diverging applications of the law, low level of trade secrets protection and enforcements, and overall weak IPR enforcement as the deciding factors of the priority countries.

Despite the Philippines being delisted from the report, Barba emphasized the importance of going beyond the exclusion from global watchlists.

“Still, we acknowledge that there is much more work needed to be done to ensure a clean and reliable marketplace for IP rights owners across all nations,” Barba said.

“Since our last mention as a priority three in 2019, we have doubled our efforts to safeguard our investment attractiveness, a testament to our commitment as a proactive national IP office,” he said, assuring the continuity of efforts to keep counterfeiting and piracy at bay.

Last month, the IPOPHL successfully facilitated the addition of eight well-known brands to the E-commerce MOU, internationally recognized as one of the best practices to foster trust in online marketplaces.

In a recent capacity-building effort with the EU Commission-funded ARISE + Philippines, over 40 representatives of the National Committee for IP Rights (NCIPR), aided by the International Trade Centre (ITC), tackled the matter of general IP enforcement and enforcement within the digital environment.

Meanwhile, IPOPHL emphasized that it continues to initiate anti-counterfeiting and anti-piracy policy (ACAPP) campaigns across LGUs and the academe to deepen IP rights awareness, especially among public authorities critical in IP enforcement.

“Our whole-of-nation approach to IP enforcement does not only empower our economic landscape. This also translates to a prosperous and lasting relationship with critical trade partners such as the EU,” Barba said.

IPOPHL highlighted that it has maintained a fruitful partnership with the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO).

“The cooperation has made significant developments through the continuous capacitation of businesses on IP services, awareness, and enforcement,” the agency said.

In an effort to boost trade competitiveness, the EUIPO and the Commission have assisted IPOPHL through the IP Key SEA in progressing the country’s geographical indications (GI) mapping via a forum participated by potential GI producers nationwide.

Trade in goods between the Philippines and the EU amounted to €18.4 billion in 2022, while trade in services totaled €4.7 billion, according to data from the EU Commission.