DOJ and IPO declare war on intellectual property piracy
May 31, 2005
Sec. Raul M. Gonzalez confers with IPO Director General Adrian S. Cristobal Jr. who IPO staffers Atty. Chester Cinco and Rene Acosta.
This is war! The Intellectual Property Office (IPO) of the Philippines and the Department of Justice (DOJ) have declared war on intellectual property piracy in the country and infringements on registered trademarks and products. IPO Director General Adrian S. Cristobal Jr. met with Justice Secretary Raul M. Gonzalez last Monday, May 30, 2005, at the latter’s office, to boost effort in advancing and safeguarding Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) to stamp out piracy and infringements in the country.
“I assure you of our cooperation and our support. It is one of the areas we are looking into and the DOJ has a special unit called the Anti-Piracy Task Force on Anti-Intellectual Property Rights headed by Assistant Chief State Prosecutor Leah Tanodra-Armamento. The NBI is on top of the many cases we are pursuing and they assist our prosecutors in several IPR cases,” Sec. Gonzalez said.
As of April this year, some 393 criminal cases involving IPR violation have been filed with various courts including some 66 cases lodged with Special Commercial Courts which are tasked to hear IPR violations. In Monday’s meeting, Sec. Gonzalez tapped DOJ Undersecretary Ernie Pineda to head the DOJ team which was assigned to work with its counterpart in the IPO. Pineda’s marching orders from Sec. Gonzalez include the review of the performance of the members of the Task Force and to set up a monitor to evaluate the status of the cases on a nationwide basis.
Pineda told Cristobal that his team will conduct a thorough review of the work of its team and coordinate with the IPO in drafting an action plan. Pineda also assured the IPO chief that the DOJ will assess the performance of its people particularly in dismissed cases and the reasons for such acquittals.
Cristobal revealed that he had conducted talks with Bureau of Customs Commissioner Bert Lina who assured him of the BOC’s support to the protection efforts of the government’s anti-piracy watchdog. An anti-piracy unit is already at work with the BOC and is hauling millions worth of pirated products and counterfeit trademarks of various signature labels.
Cristobal and Gonzalez agreed to strengthen their drive to stamp out piracy which they said is an anomaly in today’s keenly-crafted technology. The IPO is professionalizing its adjudication process while the DOJ is gaining more experience and expertise in handling anti-piracy cases with the view of improving its batting average.
|
