Seized counterfeit goods surge 334% in Jan-Apr

MANILA, Philippines - Counterfeit items seized by the government surged 334 percent in the January to April period compared to the same period a year ago, the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL) said.

Data from the IPOPHL showed counterfeit goods confiscated by the government amounted to P6.572 billion as of end-April, well-above the P1.515 billion in the same period last year.

The IPOPHL attributed the higher amount to operations of the IP rights enforcement agencies particularly the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and the Bureau of Customs (BOC).

“The same joint NBI-BOC operations yielded the increases,” IPOPHL director general Ricardo Blancaflor said in a text message yesterday.

For the rest of the year, the IPOPHL is upbeat the value of seized pirated or counterfeit items would continue to rise.

“The operations will continue at present levels,” he said.

“There will be more joint cooperations,” he added.

Aside from the NBI and BOC, other agencies part of the National Committee on IP Rights (NCIPR) which is authorize to visit business establishments with IP violations and confiscate counterfeit items are the Philippine National Police, Optical Media Board and Food and Drug Administration.

Blancaflor is confident the value of goods seized by the NCIPR this year could beat last year’s total of P7.76 billion.

He is also hopeful this year’s total could match the record-high set in 2011.

Counterfeit items seized by the government reached an all-time high of P8.3 billion in 2011.

Earlier, Blancaflor said the IPOPHL intends to implement programs to increase the public’s awareness as well as improve enforcement of IP rights to keep the Philippines out of the Office of the US Trade Representative’s (USTR) list of countries tagged with IP problems.

In April, the USTR removed the Philippines from its Special 301 report Watch List given legislative and regulatory reforms undertake to enhance the protection and enforcement of IP here.