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Report on Anti-Counterfeiting Activities
in the Philippines
Rico V. Domingo, Esq.
Anti-Counterfeiting Committee
54h APAA Council Workshop
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PHILIPPINES
By
Rico V. Domingo, Esq.
REPORT ON ANTI-COUNTERFEITING ACTIVITIES
IN THE PHILIPPINES
Brief Introduction
The first half of the current year under review saw the implementation of a comprehensive strategic action plan for strengthening the intellectual property regime in the country. The plan has seven components:
- Establishing institutional linkages and strengthening inter-agency coordination
- Sustaining enforcement
- Improving prosecution and adjudication
- Enhancing awareness and public education
- Institutional Strengthening and capacity building
- Enhancing policy environment and
- Broadening international cooperation.
The government has made a big step in dealing with the difficulty in the collation of data and information on intellectual property enforcement-related activities undertaken by both the government and private sectors with the creation and implementation of an interactive web-based central database for such activities.
Governmental Initiatives
The President issued two directives giving the Director General of the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) oversight functions over the government’s anti-piracy efforts and ordering the Optical Media Board (OMB) to coordinate with pertinent agencies to boost operations, focus on the filing of cases and the conviction of violators and the publication of such convictions.
In February 2007, the IPO launched a web-based interactive central database system for relevant data and information on the anti-piracy campaign. The system, which is to be housed in the IPO, has as its initial end-user agencies such as the OMB, Department of Justice (DOJ), Bureau of Customs (BOC), National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and the Philippine National Police (PNP), although the plan is to include in the network the courts handling IP cases.
Consolidated IP enforcement data for the years 2005 to 2007 show that major efforts have been exerted to sustain the campaign against intellectual property violations, viz.:
AGENCY
/NO. OF OPERATIONS
/ QUANTITY /ESTIMATED VALUE
(PhP)Inspection / Search
Warrant / Warrant of Seizure and Detention / Pieces / Boxes/
Sacks / Contai-ner / Replicat-ing machine
NBI / 1,382 / - / 2,150,467 / 352 / - / - / 585,575,220.00
PNP / 597 / - / 565,460 / 7,404 / - / - / 428,462,606.96
OMB / 2,723 / 369 / - / 7,225,944 / 2044 / - / - / 1,029,025,850.00
BOC [1] / - / - / 61 / 535,052 / 10,306 / 1 / 4 / 1,572,099,033.20
TOTAL / 2,273 / 2,348 / 61 / 10,473,923 / 20,106 / 1 / 4 / 3,615,162,710.16
The combined enforcement efforts of the Intellectual Property Unit-Bureau of Customs (IPU-BOC), Optical Media Board (OMB), Anti-Fraud and Commercial Crimes Division/Criminal Investigation and Detection Group-Philippine National Police (AFCCD/CIDG-PNP) and Intellectual Property Rights Division-National Bureau of Investigation (IPRD-NBI) resulted to the confiscation,by December 2006, of two million nine hundred ninety thousand three hundred one (2,990,301) pieces and seven thousand five hundred fifty-nine (7,559) boxes/sacks of fake goodswith an estimated value of Philippine Pesos 1,353,225,596.96. Historically, the months of January to March are “slow” months in terms of enforcement due to low consumer demand after the Christmas holidays. Yet, the amount of goods seized is substantial.
A total of one thousand four hundred sixty-seven (1,467) enforcement operations were reported to have been conducted in two hundred thirteen (213) areas around the country. Of these activities, nine hundred forty-two (942) were inspections of retail outlets and production areas and seven hundred eighty-eight (788) were by search warrants. There were fourteen (14) plant audits and twenty-three (23) warrants of seizure and detention (WSD).
Of the two hundred-thirteen (213) raids of the NBI, sixteen (16) were conducted in Binondo, three (3) in Quiapo, three (3) in 168 Shopping Mall and eight (8) in Metrowalk. Another one hundred seventy-nine (179) raids were conducted in other areas. The focused enforcement operations have resulted in visible reduction of pirated and counterfeited goods in “notorious” areas.
PERIOD / AGENCY / NO. OF AREAS RAIDED (Notorious) / OTHERSQUIAPO / BINONDO / METRO
WALK / 168
MALL / MAKATI
CINEMA SQUARE / GREENHILLS
01 January to 31 December
2006 / NBI / 2 / 9 / 1 / 1 / 59
PNP / 1 / 7 / 1 / 42
OMB / 1 / 7 / 2 / 2 / 78
Subtotal / 3 / 16 / 8 / 3 / 0 / 4 / 179
Grand Total / 213
The IPRD-NBI received one hundred twenty-eight (128) complaints and filed five hundred forty-nine (549) cases directly with the Department of Justice (DOJ). It also served four hundred nineteen (419) search warrants and seized counterfeit goods with an estimated value at Philippine Pesos 290, 964, 640.00.
As an active partner of the Pilipinas Anti-Piracy Team (PAPT), the IPRD-NBI also raided computer stores in Cebu in November 2006 for selling pirated software. The total value of items used in the suspected illegal production of software programs is estimated at Philippine Pesos 2,000,000.00.
In December 2006, more raids conducted by the IPRD-NBI in the cities of Makati and Mandaluyong against establishments allegedly using pirated software resulted in the seizure of more than Philippine Pesos 7,000,000 worth of allegedly infringing material.
From January to December 2006, the Anti-Fraud and Commercial Crimes Division/Criminal Investigation and Detection Group of the Philippine National Police (AFCCD/CIDG-PNP) served two hundred eighty-one (281) search warrants, arrested forty-six (46) persons and seized a total of three hundred seventy-four thousand eight hundred fifty-nine (374,859) pieces and one thousand four hundred thirty-eight (1,448) boxes of counterfeit or pirated goods worth Philippine Pesos 131,291,496.96.
A summary of the enforcement accomplishments of the AFCCD/CIDG-PNP is as follows:
PERIOD COVERED / NO. OF SEARCH WARRANTS SERVED / QUANTITY / ESTIMATEDVALUE
(PhP)
Pieces / Boxes/Sacks
January to December 2006 / 281 / 374,589 / 1, 438 / 131,291,496.96
By the end of 2006, the Optical Media Board (OMB) had also conducted one thousand forty-four (1,044) operations and seized one million six hundred forty-two thousand one hundred forty-three (1,642,143) optical discs valued at Philippine Pesos 207,807,400.00:
PERIOD
COVERED
/NO. OF OPERATIONS
/ESTIMATED VALUE
(PhP)SW / I/M O / Plant audits / Inspection / Search Warrant / Total
January toDecember 2006 / 942 / 88 / 14 / 1,587, 383 / 104,760 / 1,652,586 / 208,203,650.00
In November 2006, the OMB and the PNP entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) whereby the OMB deputized members of the PNP, under the control, supervision and responsibility of their immediate Chiefs of Police and Provincial Directors, to conduct unannounced inspections and all other necessary enforcement actions such as but not limited to the application and enforcement of search warrants over any and all optical and magnetic media establishments found and/or operating within their territorial jurisdiction.
The OMB’s enforcement efforts also resulted in three (3) convictions in 2006 and one conviction in early 2007. In February 2007, the OMB highlighted its third anniversary with a disc shredding ceremony of around two hundred sacks of pirated optical discs at the Camp Aguinaldo Parade Ground.
The Intellectual Property Unit of the Bureau of Customs (IPU-BOC) also issued twenty-six (26) warrants of seizure and detention from January to December 2006. It confiscated four hundred thousand sixteen three hundred eighty-six (416,386) pieces,six (6) units, two thousand one hundred three (2,103) boxes, two thousand two hundred sixteen (2,216) cases, one thousand four hundred fifty-one (1,451) cartons and one (1) crate of fake goods with an estimated value of Philippine Pesos 722,765,810.00 during the same period.
PERIOD COVERED / NO. OF OPERATIONS / QUANTITY / ESTIMATEDVALUE
(PhP)
Warrant of Seizure and Detention / Pieces / Boxes/Sacks
January to December 2006 / 26 / 416,386 pieces and 6 units / 2,103 boxes
2,126 cases
1,451 cartons
1 crate / 722,765,810.00
In January 2007, the IPU-BOC, in a joint concerted effort with other government agencies like the OMB, also intercepted about US dollars two million (US$2 million) worth of digital versatile disc-replicating equipment capable of making four hundred thousand (400,000) pirated copies a day contained in two (2) 20-footer and two (2) 40-footer container vans from the United States, Hong Kong and Taiwan.
Department Orders No. 595 and 823 issued on 11 August 2006 and 12 October 2006, respectively, reconstituted the Task Force on Anti-Intellectual Property Piracy of the Department of Justice (TFAIPP-DOJ) and increased its membership to sixteen.
Out of the one thousand sixty-eight (1,068) cases turned over by Assistant Chief State Prosecutor (ACSP) Chairperson Leah Tanodra-Armamento to the new TFAIPP Chair, ACSP Pedrito Rances, two hundred forty-five (245) cases have been disposed of.
The Bureau of Legal Affairs (BLA) of the Intellectual Property Office disposed of two hundred eighty-four (285) inter partes cases (IPC) in 2006, one hundred seventy (170) of which were old cases, resulting in a reduction of its backlog in IPC cases. Furthermore, nineteen (19) of the twenty-six (26) intellectual property violation (IPV) cases the BLA disposed of in 2006 were old cases.
The Supreme Court is implementing the Intellectual Property Program for Judges it approved in early 2006. The program is designed to help court personnel more efficiently and fairly adjudicate IP cases pending before their salas and is seen as the first step towards the creation of specialized IP Courts.
The prosecution of cases at the judicial level has also become more efficient. Out of the sixty-four (64) convictions handed down from 2001 to 2007, forty-two (42) were made in 2005 and 2006.
In the database of the Office of the Court Administrator of the Supreme Court (OCA-SC), IP cases are segregated from the traditional “criminal, civil and commercial” categories. This database shows that there are four hundred forty-two (442) IP cases pending nationwide, three hundred and thirty three of which are pending before courts in the National Capital Region.
In terms of volume, the Quezon City Trial Court-Branch 90 has the heaviest load with ninety-five (95) cases, followed by the Manila Trial Court-Branch 24 with seventy-seven (77), and Manila Trial Court-Branch 46 with forty-five (45) cases.
Private Sector Initiatives
The Director General of the IPO also signed on behalf of the IPO a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with the Intellectual Property Coalition (IP Coalition) providing for joint projects on IP education and advocacy, such as promoting the “IP Seal” of good housekeeping and promoting passage and implementation of the Ordinance Template (To Curtail the Sale, Rental, Transfer, Distribution, Manufacture and/or Production of Pirated, Counterfeit or Fake Goods, Articles or Services).
Among the other private associations with whom the inter-agency secretariat has established linkages were the different IPassociations, practitioners, SME associations, universities, and local and regional associations, such as the Philippine Software Industry Association (PSIA), Business Software Alliance (BSA), Philippine Cable Television Association (PCTA) and Cable and Satellite Broadcasting Association of Asia (CASBAA).
To institutionalize a mechanism for consultation, coordination and cooperation between the government and the private sector for strengthening the IP system, the Director General convened and presided the first meeting with IP owners and associations in 2006. The purpose of the meeting was to present IP Philippines’ proposal to establish the Public-Private Partnership Council for Intellectual Property Rights (P3CIPR).
Several advocacy projects that can be undertaken were identified during the meeting. It was also agreed that new version of the old Intellectual Property Rights Enforcement Action Panel (IP-REAP) be established where the private sector can engage government agencies in a forum for exchange of information and cooperation. The P3CIPR will hold this forum quarterly and will not limit itself to enforcement issues like the old IP-REAP.
Parallel enforcement actions were also undertaken by the private sector, mainly multinational companies engaged in the manufacture or distribution of motion picture (in video, digitalized and other analogous format), music recordings, software, soap and detergent, garments, footwear, automotive, leather, vehicle parts and motorcycle parts, appliances and accessories, electrical supplies, electronics, cell phone, perfumery, liquor and other products.
The soap and detergent industry should probably be one of the most active groups in intellectual property rights protection arena in this country. Through the Soap and Detergent Association of the Philippines (an umbrella organization of the leading soap and detergent multinational companies), seventy-one (71) search and seizure operations were conducted which led to the seizure of almost Philippine Pesos 4,907,097.68 worth of fake shampoo and toothpaste products.
Border Control
Full automation of the BOC is also underway and a Rationalization Plan for the creation of a permanent IP Unit comprised of at least twenty-five (25) persons to engage in the border protection of IP rights has been submitted to the Department of Finance.
The BOC also procured ten (10) units of non-intrusive container inspection system (x-ray machines) which it deployed to Cebu, Davao, Port of Manila (POM) and the Manila International Container Port (MICP). In conjunction with the Department of Finance (DOF) and the Clark Development Corporation (CDC) it also installed a baggage X-ray machine for arriving passengers at the ClarkAirport.
The BOC also launched a major computerization program in 2005.The web-based project, called the ASYCUDAWorld (e-Customs) project, is based on international standards and is seen as a means of achieving compliance with the Philippines’ various trade agreements with other countries, more trade cooperation and a more efficient exchange of information.
[1] January to April 2007
No report for the month of April 2007
Other articles/equipment (10,443 pieces) with an estimated value of P396,250.00 were also seized by the OMB in various operations, which includes: 10,100 empty CD/DVD (P101,000), 9 DVD players (P22,500); 41 televisions (P155,000); 2 personal computer (P58,000); 9 amplifiers, 250 CD casing, 30 speakers, 2 sub-woofers, (P59,750).