IPOPHL puts IP awareness as priority effort for next e-Commerce Roadmap

The Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL) and several stakeholders recently joined the Department of Trade and Industry’s (DTI) Brown Bag Meetings (BBM) to tackle pressing intellectual property (IP) issues that could be addressed in the Philippine e-Commerce Roadmap 2023 – 2025 that is currently in the works.

In his opening address, IPOPHL Director General Rowel S. Barba gave an overview of the IP activities in the eight key industries of the creative economy, namely Digital Marketing and Online Advertising; Gaming; Digital Art and Photography; Films, Television, and Broadcast Media; Audio Online Media; Press and other Online Literature.

Barba noted that some common online challenges of IP rights holders include the difficulty to stop the spread of IP infringing material and keeping track of online activities that illegally distribute their works.

For users of various IP works, Barba recognized that the challenge lies in the lack of awareness that the commercial use of IP protected works must be duly compensated and attributed to the IP owner. He added that users also struggle with identifying protected works from those that are free to use.

Pending the new e-Commerce Roadmap, Barba assured that IPOPHL will still be intensifying its awareness drive and ensure its inclusiveness by reaching out to various regions this year.

“We will be conducting a nationwide caravan to provide capacity building and  information dissemination for the various creative sectors throughout the country,” Barba said.

Barba assured that IPOPHL, as a member of the Philippine Creative Council mandated to further the development of creative industries, will be working with the DTI, other government agencies and content creators “in coming up with an e-Commerce Roadmap that will pave the way for a better digital environment for both IP rights holders and users.”

BBMs, held by the DTI’s e-Commerce Program Office, provide avenues to thresh out issues gripping key e-Commerce players.

Discussions at the BBM on 11 January 2023 was specific to the experiences of creators in the Online Media, aiming to define its current IP protection challenges and solicit solution proposals that could be translated into policies and strategic collaborations under the thrust of the new e-Commerce Roadmap.

“We want you to grow your business through e-Commerce,” DTI Assistant Secretary and e-Commerce Lead Mary Jean T. Pacheco said at the BBM.

“We want you to get more clients and take advantage of the opportunities. This entails protecting your assets. On the other hand, we also want to protect the consumers. You can help in making a more robust e-Commerce,” she added.

Inputs from the BBMs held from November 2022 to January 2023 will contribute to the DTI’s work in updating the e-Commerce 2022 Roadmap which concluded in December 2022. (IPOPHL)