MANILA (Rolly Yambao / 18 Feb) The U.S. Embassy congratulated the Philippines for its progress in the protection of intellectual property rights (IPR), which enabled the United States Trade Representative (USTR) on February 15 to move the Philippines from the "Special 301 IPR Priority Watch List" to the "Watch List."
The U.S. welcomes President Macapagal-Arroyo's leadership on this issue and continuing commitment to a strong interagency effort to sustain progress in protecting intellectual property rights and enforcing IPR laws.
The U.S. applauds the efforts of the Philippine government and industry in creating improved enforcement and protection capabilities in the area of intellectual property rights.
Many individuals worked long and hard to achieve these results, including Secretary of Trade and Industry Favila, Director General Adrian Cristobal of the Intellectual Property Office and Chairman Edu Manzano of the Optical Media Board.
Other key Philippine government agencies include the Department of Justice, the National Bureau of Investigation, the Philippine National Police, the National Telecommunications Commission, the National Book Development Board, the Bureau of Customs, and the Supreme Court.
The Congress played an important role in passing and implementing the Optical Media Act.
Improved intellectual property is in the interest of all countries; it contributes to a better business climate for both domestic and foreign investors in the Philippines, and encourages entrepreneurship. Intellectual property protection remains critical to start-up enterprises in knowledge-intensive sectors and promotes economic growth.
The U.S. Embassy and Washington agencies will be working even more closely in the coming months with Philippine officials to sustain momentum and results on IPR protection and enforcement. We continue to work together on training programs, information exchanges and best practices for IPR protection and enforcement.
The Philippines, along with other Watch List countries, will continue to undergo future reviews of the status of IPR protection and market access opportunities for U.S. firms that rely on intellectual property protection.
Pursuant to Section 182 of the Trade Act of 1974, as amended by the Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act of 1988 and the Uraguay Round Agreements Act (enacted in 1994), under Special 301 provisions, USTR must identify foreign countries that deny adequate and effective protection of intellectual property rights or deny fair and equitable market access for persons that rely on intellectual property protection.
In 1994, USTR initiated an annual "Special 301 Report" to review protection of IPR rights among U.S. trading partners, identifying "Priority Foreign Countries," "Priority Watch List" countries, and "Watch List" countries.
"Priority Foreign Countries" are those that have the most onerous and egregious acts, policies, and practices regarding IPR protection, and that are not engaged in good faith negotiations to address these problems.
Trading partners who fall under the "Priority Watch List" are those that do not provide an adequate level of IPR protection or enforcement, or market access for persons relying on intellectual property protection.
Trading partners on the "Watch List" demonstrate improvement, while meriting bilateral attention to address IPR problems. In recent months, no other countries have been moved from the Priority Watch List to the Watch List.
Other countries on the Watch List include Azerbaijan , Bahamas, Belarus, Belize, Bolivia, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, Columbia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, European Union, Guatemala, Hungary, Italy, Jamaica, Kazakhstan, Korea, Latvia, Lithuania, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, Poland, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Slovakia, Taiwan, Tajikistan, Thailand, Turkmenistan, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam.
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