Value of fake goods seized by IPOPHL up

MANILA, Philippines - The value of counterfeit items seized by the government went up 34.5 percent in the January to October period from a year ago, according to the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL).

Data from the IPOPHL show the counterfeit items confiscated by the government as valued at P6.28 billion as of end-October, up from the P4.67 billion confiscated in the comparable period last year.

The same data showed that a total of 5.238 million pieces of goods were confiscated by the agencies part of the National Committee on Intellectual Property Rights from 2,107 inspections conducted.

The items confiscated include designer watches, bags, shirts, jeans, footwear, medicines, cellular phones and other electronic gadgets.

The increase in the value of confiscated counterfeit goods was seen due to the growth posted in the value of items obtained by the Bureau of Customs (BOC).

IPOPHL data show the BOC seized items worth P3.18 billion in the 10 month period, up 189 percent from the P1.1 billion taken in the comparable period last year.

The value of fake or pirated items confiscated by other agencies in the January to October meanwhile posted declines year-on-year.

For the January to October period, the National Bureau of Investigation’s haul reached only P2.35 billion, down slightly from the P2.40 billion in the same period in the previous year.

Items seized by the Optical Media Board for the 10 month period dropped 27.5 percent to P707.29 million compared to the P976 million in 2012.

Those confiscated by the Philippine National Police, fell 74.9 percent to P47.20 million as of end-October from the P188 million a year ago.

Despite the higher value of confiscated counterfeit items, concerns over the enforcement of intellectual property rights in the country remain.

Earlier, The Software Alliance (BSA) and International Intellectual Property Alliance (IIPA) asked the US government to conduct an investigation of intellectual property rights infringement in physical markets in Metro Manila, citing continued sales of counterfeit items there.