The European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines (ECCP) is pressing the government to put up courts dealing solely with cases related to intellectual property rights to sustain the country's gains in IPR protection.

In a recommendation paper submitted to the government during last week's European Union­Philippines Business Dialogue, the ECCP said that while the country has made progress in IPR protection and enforcement, as evidenced by its removal from the United States' Special 301 watch list last April, "the Philippines is... still confronted by serious IPR infringements."

The chamber also said that al­ though the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHIL) recently acquired enforcement powers following the amendment of the country's IP law, there are not enough courts to handle cases involving IPR violations.

While a few regional trial courts have been tasked to try and decide on IPR­related cases, the ECCP claimed that these cases only represented 10% of the workload.

"To underpin IPR enforcement and protection," the ECCP said, "specialized IPR courts should be created to streamline and expedite the resolution of IPR­related cases."

"According to a 2012 study on specialized IPR courts by the International Intellectual Property Institute and the US Patent and Trademark Office, there is a positive correlation between specialized IPR courts and the efficient and effective resolution of IPR cases," the chamber added.

"An effective intellectual property system is crucial for an emerging economy like the Philip­ pines as it will not only encourage innovation and competitiveness but also foster fair market competition for existing businesses and potential foreign investors..."

Source: Business World, 11 Jun 2014