US wants RP to vigorously implement IPR action plan

The United States wants the Philippines to vigorously implement the intellectual property right (IPR) action plan before it agrees to remove the country from the Special 301 Watchlist.

This was disclosed over the weekend by Trade and Industry Secretary Juan B. Santos following a meeting with US Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick last week.

Santos, for his part, chided the US for not giving any consideration to the achievements made so far by the Philippines in eradicating intellectual property right (IPR) violations.

According to Santos, "our achievements were not given due credit, while other neighboring countries in a similar situation as ours – even worse situation than ours were given special treatment."

Santos specifically cited Thailand and India which he noted continues to engage in IPR infringement.

Santos said that he expressed "regret and disappointment over the way the Philippines was treated."

He cited the fact that since 2002, the Philippine government has been implementing vigorously an IPR Action Plan which contained specific suggestions from the USTR.

The Philippine government, Santos stressed, has shown its political will and firm commitment by accomplishing almost all of the targets of the action plan.

US industries, furthermore, Santos said, have recognized the substantial gains made by the Philippines against counterfeits. Yet the Philippines has been retained in the Special Watch List.

He reiterated that "the national effort being aggressively pursued by the Philippines to protect and enforce IPR is a key component of our socio-economic development agenda."

Santos expressed optimism that eventually "the US will accord our efforts the same recognition it gave to those of our neighbors similarly situated and it would be beneficial to see more transparency in the process so that we know exactly where we stand and that it is not a moving target we are aiming for."

The Philippines has been in the US IPR watchlist for four years.

There had been hopes in the past years that moves by Congress and concerned government agencies to curb piracy in the country would finally convince the US to remove the Philippines from the watchlist.

One significant action was the passage of the Optical Media bill.

The Optical Media bill will regulate the production, distribution and sale of DVDs and VCDs.

The passage of the Optical Media bill was one of the conditions set by the US Trade Representative (USTR) for the removal of the Philippines from the 301 IPR Watchlist.

The USTR had complained that the government has not been doing enough to curb optical media piracy. It noted that there is very poor enforcement of IPR regulation with insufficiently trained prosecutors, procedural and judicial delays, as well as very few raids.