The Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines said over the weekend it will curb counterfeiting and piracy activities flagged by the European Commission in its latest Counterfeit and Piracy Watch List.
“Clamping down on IP violating activities will be proof of good governance and a strong will to implement the laws of the land,” said IPOPHL director-general Rowel Barba.
He asked local government units to fully enforce the IP Code of 1997 and the Department of Interior and Local Government’s intellectual property-related issuances.
Among the DILG issuances is Memorandum Circular 2020-124 which mandates local offices to issue an ordinance that will allow the cancellation of business permits and other LGU-issued operational licenses of IP-violating shops.
The DILG also released Memorandum Circular 2022-055, which directs local offices to adopt their own Anti-Counterfeit and Anti-Piracy Policies to promote IP respect in the workplace.
The EC Watch List, published in December 2022, cited the markets of Baclaran and Divisoria, the Greenhills Shopping Center and the Cartimar Shopping Center as hotspots for selling fake and pirated goods. Othel V. Campos
