Counterfeiting, piracy complaints down 48% in January-June

MANILA, Philippines — Reports and complaints on counterfeiting and piracy dropped by 48 percent to 56 in the first half of the year, the Intellectual Property Office (IPOPHL) said yesterday.

The  first half figure is lower than the 107 complaints and reports on counterfeiting in the same period last year.

It said that counterfeiting accounted for 53 or 95 percent of the total reports and complaints received by IPOPHL’s IP Rights Enforcement Office (IEO).

Apparel such as shoes, clothes, bags and eyewear remains to be the most counterfeited category, with a 65.9 percent share in reports and complaints.

This was followed by perfume and beauty products, with a 9.1 percent share, gadgets (6.8 percent),  home items (6.8 percent) and other items such as keychains and umbrellas (4.5 percent).

For piracy, IPOPHL said shows and movies were  top areas of concern among complaints and reports, with a 44.4 percent share.

This was followed by artworks and paintings and general eBooks with a 22.2 percent share each. Software also had an 11.1 percent share.

IEO officer-in-charge Ann Edillon said  awareness campaigns and capacity sessions on Respect for IP are continuous, associating these efforts to the declining reports and complaints.

“Mechanisms in place are working. For example, e-commerce platforms have become stricter as required by the memorandum of understanding (MOU) between brand owners and e-commerce platforms like Lazada and Shopee,”Edillon, referring to the MOU which IPOPHL helped facilitate in 2021 to push for stronger notice-and-takedown procedures among platforms.

“We also recognize that brand-owners have been more knowledgeable of their rights and how they can utilize the complaints mechanisms of platforms,” she said.

While netizens continued to be the primary reporters of counterfeiting and piracy activities with a 64.2 percent contribution, the share of brand and IP rights owners increased to 18.9 percent from the prior year.

“This sustained IP enforcement support we have been receiving for the past years is a reflection of the empowerment of our netizens and the concerned public through our IP rights awareness campaigns. More and more brand and IP owners have also been coming forward to voice their concerns about protecting their rights. This is the type of proactive IP rights protection that we hope to foster as we begin to see effects of the rebuilding economy,” IPOPHL deputy director General Teodoro Pascua said.

IEO data also show that the online space remains to be the leading source of IP violations, accounting for 75 percent of the overall reports and complaints.

Year-to-date, Facebook still tops this list, making up for a total of 65.8 percent of the overall filings. This was followed by other websites with 13.2 percent, Shopee (9.2 percent), Instagram (6.6 percent), and Lazada (5.3 percent).

“Despite this decline, we cannot deny that the IP rights enforcement is also now a battle fought online. We further encourage the netizens and IP rights holders to continue being vigilant and maximize the IP protection features on sites where they observe any counterfeiting and piracy activities. If the online features cannot address the IP rights holder’s concerns, IEO welcomes formal complaints that can be filed at IPOPHL for assessment,”Edillon said.