I’d like to proudly relate how an e-Commerce memorandum of understanding that the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines helped to establish in in 2021 continues to shine brightly in creating a safe e-commerce space for both intellectual property rights holders and consumers.
This MoU — which I discussed last week — was formed to bring about a code of practice among its members to respect IP rights and cultivate trust online. Since then, this MoU has been cited as a best practice in cultivating trust online to deter illicit alcohol trade in the ASEAN region.
During the annual review of the e-Commerce MoU held last 23 May, some of the signatories related positive outcomes for a second year in a row as a result of being more active in taking down posts that infringe on IP to curb online piracy and counterfeiting.
While the success of the MoU cannot be denied, there’s always room for improvement. That’s why we’re also thankful for the members’ insightful comments and recommendations to enhance the MoU and fine-tune the framework and implementation. This, in turn, would address current and rising trends involving IP rights and ensure the momentum of its achievements.
I’d also like to reiterate that it is due to the willingness of the 28 signatories — including the nine that recently joined this May — to partner with IPOPHL that the collaborative spirit of the MoU continues to be successfully upheld.
More importantly, this MoU will certainly aid us to proactively address the concerns of our trade partners, particularly the US and the European Union.
For example, the MoU would assist us in addressing the issue of counterfeit medicines that was raised in the Special 301 Report of the US Trade Representative. Moreover, this is helping us go beyond getting delisted from the European Commission’s IP rights watch list by ensuring a clean and reliable marketplace for IP rights owners across all nations.
Ultimately, the spirit of MOU draws from one aspect of IPOPHL’s BRIGHT Agenda, which is to ‘build collaboration and partnerships.’ This “whole-of-nation” approach highlights the importance of partnership and collaboration between the public and private sectors to curb the spread of counterfeiting and piracy, especially in online marketplaces.
And as we encourage more signatories to join under this MoU, we hope to bring this collaboration further to the regional level to help us achieve our aim of a safe e-commerce space for IP rights holders both local and international, as well as the general public.