US retains Phl in IPR watch list

MANILA, Philippines - The US government has retained the Philippines in its watch list of countries with intellectual property rights (IPR) violations amid continued piracy over the Internet.

“The Philippines remains on the Watch List in 2013, subject to further review if the Philippines continues to make progress in key areas,” the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) said in its 2013 Special 301 Report.

Being placed on the watch list means the country needs to address underlying IPR problems.

The USTR said it wants the country “to take important steps to address piracy over the Internet, in particular, with respect to notorious online markets.”

It noted that while it recognizes the efforts of the Philippine government in terms of modernizing its copyright and IPR enforcement regimes with the amendment of the IP Code, the US still needs to see the implementing regulations that will further strengthen and clarify the law.

Even as the US is hopeful that the implementation of the 2011 Supreme Court IPR procedural rules will lead to a more efficient judicial process for IPR cases, it remains concerned about the need to strengthen criminal enforcement of IPR and to improve predictability with respect to search and seizure orders.

“The US also remains concerned about amendments to the Patent Law that limit the patentability of certain chemical forms unless the applicant demonstrates increased efficacy,” the USTR said.

“The US encourages the Philippines to provide an effective system for protecting against the unfair commercial use, as well as unauthorized disclosure, of undisclosed test or other data generated to obtain marketing approval for pharmaceutical and agricultural chemical products,” it added.

Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines director general Ricardo Blancaflor said in a statement yesterday the agency regrets that the USTR has decided to keep the country in the watch list.

“Even the 2013 Report recognizes the efforts of the Philippine government so we cannot understand why we have been retained in the ordinary watch list,” he said.

“I only hope that the law enforcement agencies involved in IPR work will not be discouraged by the retention and will work harder in fighting piracy and counterfeiting,” he added.

The Special 301 Report is an annual review of the state of IPR protection and enforcement in US trading partners.

Other countries placed on the watch list were Barbados, Belarus, Bolivia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, Finland, Greece, Guatemala, Israel, Italy,

Jamaica, Kuwait, Lebanon, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, Romania, Tajikistan, Trinidad and Tobago, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Vietnam.

Those which were classified under the priority watch list or those which present the most significant concerns regarding insufficient IPR protection or enforcement were Algeria, Argentina, Chile, China, India, Indonesia, Pakistan, Russia, Thailand and Venezuela.

Ukraine, meanwhile, was designated as the priority foreign country or the trading partner whose practices have the greatest adverse impact on US products.