RP stays under piracy watch list of Washington

The Philippines has remained in Washington’s list of states that have yet to make substantial progress in curbing infringement of intellectual property rights, GMANews.TV learned on Tuesday. The US Trade Representative (USTR) in a recent report, decided to retain the country under its watch list despite the Philippine government’s move to bolster the implementation of the Optical Media Act and increase the number of raids against owners of pirated optical disc production facilities and retail establishments. “The Philippines’ Intellectual Property Office coordinated among IPR enforcement agencies, which resulted in an increased number of raids and enforcement actions. While recognizing these improvements, the United States strongly urges the Philippines to sustain and broaden progress on IPR issues in order to avoid a potential return to the Priority Watch List in the future," the report said. It said the Philippine must work on enforcing the Optical Media Act through continued inspections and raids of optical disc plants; increasing the number of seizures of pirate and counterfeit products and the machinery used to produce such infringing products; increasing the numbers of arrests and convictions of pirates and counterfeiters arising out of the optical disc plant inspections, to achieve deterrence and avoid recidivism. The USTR added that the Philippine government must continue imposing deterrent sentences against criminal IPR infringers (i.e. significant fines or prison sentences that are actually served); ensuring destruction of pirate and counterfeit goods and equipment used to make them; addressing the problem of illegal copying of textbooks; improving customs enforcement. It also said that the government should take action against television signal theft by pirate cable TV operators; address the growing problem of counterfeit pharmaceuticals; the bringing of domestic IPR laws in line with the Philippines’ commitment to implement the WIPO Internet Treaties, including addressing Internet piracy; and increasing the capacity of courts to address IPR cases effectively. “The United States will use the bilateral Trade and Investment Framework Agreement to engage the Government of Philippines on strengthening its IPR regime. The United States commends the Philippines for its progress to date and hopes to see continued improvement on these important IPR issues in the future," the report said. - GMANews.TV