Cagayan de Oro – The Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL)on Wednesday hold an Intellectual Property (IP) Workshop here at Chali Beach Resort to Law enforcement agents and Public Prosecutors as part of the agency’s broader work to improve enforcement strategies.
The workshop will provide an opportunity for law enforcement officers and public prosecutors to know more about IP law,trends and enforcement best practices that will help them protect the province’s markets from counterfeit goods and privacy.
The learning event provides a product identification workshop to help participants better identify counterfeit goods .
In a Press Conference conducted Wednesday morning, National Committee on Intellectual Property Rights(NCIPR) Deputy Director General Teodoro Pascual pointed out the Top 5 counterfeit items in the country who are also their area of concern and these are Clothings, Apparels,Shoes,Medicines and electronic items and 2021 statistics shows that confiscated counterfeits in the country are totalling Php24.9 Billion that includes those from online selling.
Recently in Ozamis City,Police authorities confiscated Fake medicines like Paracetamol, Ibuprofen and medication tablets or capsules for cold.
IP Rights Enforcement Office’s capacity building efforts seek to enhance the support for IP protection in areas where economies are rapidly expanding. To sustain the momentum of this growth toward recovery,we need to build an environment where innovators,creators and entrepreneurs are confident in the safety of their current and future IP assets from unfair business practices.The workshop hope to help create this safe place for IP Rights holders and rebound to benefits to society, said IPOPHL Legal Executive Officer Atty. Marlita Dagsa who is a panelist in the said Press Conference .
IP Rights Enforcement Office is also pushing for the establishment of Anti-Counterfeit and Anti Piracy Policies(ACAPP) across all Local Government Units(LGU’s) and Universities to deepen IP respect across the country.
An ACAPP encourages all government workers to be aware of the harms of counterfeiting and piracy to Business,livelihoods and the economy. It also aims to ensure that the policies and actions government offices issue are compliant with existing IP laws and regulations,she added
To date, 5 LGU’S have established and are working on their ACAPP. The National Committee on IP Rights,which IPOPHL leads an acting chair,is targeting to see 50 National government agencies and 18 LGU’S and Universities here to create ACAPP that will help boost activities in turning great ideas into real, tangible and valuable IP assets,Dagsa concluded .
NCIPR Deputy Director General Pascua concluded that it’s high time now to support Philippine local products specially those identified by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) from LGU’S initiative as their One Town,One Product (OTOP) to prevent the spread of counterfeiting.
