The National Committee on Intellectual Property Rights, led by the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines, said it confiscated P5.3 billion worth of fake and counterfeit goods in the first quarter, with cigarettes and cigarette production equipment accounting for the bulk.
The first-quarter haul was more than half the total value of fake goods confiscated in 2017 and climbed 498 percent from P886 million worth of fake items that authorities seized in the same period in 2017.
“The 2018 first-quarter seizure reflects a triple-digit growth from the comparable period last year and attests to IPOPHL and NCIPR’s unflagging efforts to stamp out the spread of counterfeit and pirated goods. This Q1 seizure does not even reflect yet the value seized by the Bureau of Customs which routinely impounds a substantial amount of fake goods from the country’s gateways. With this strong showing in enforcement of IP rights, we believe we can surpass the P8.2 billion in fake and counterfeit items gotten in 2017,” said IPOPHL director general Josephine Santiago.
Data from NCIPR showed that among the NCIPR enforcement agencies, the Philippine National Police confiscated the biggest value at 94 percent, or P5 billion in the first quarter.
The National Bureau of Investigation contributed P209 million, while the Optical Media Board confiscated P103 million worth of goods. The Bureau of Customs has yet to submit its enforcement data