* My article in BusinessWorld on October 01, 2019.
See also:
Among the contentious bills in Congress now is the
proposed Corporate Income Tax and Incentives Rationalization Act (CITIRA),
formerly the TRABAHO bill. The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has a
good proposal for this.
During the launching of the report, “The Importance of
IPR for Progress: Reform Agenda for ASEAN Countries” on Sept. 24 at the Holiday
Inn Makati, DTI Secretary Ramon M. Lopez gave the Keynote Speech and he
suggested that the Income Tax Holiday (ITH) under CITIRA for innovation firms
should be four years as base for products that are expanding and moving up the
value chain; five years for activities like Agribusiness and investments
outside Metro Manila; seven years for intermediate parts and components; and 10
years for superior to high-tech products that are not yet present in the
Philippines.
These are good proposals and are related to the DTI
flagship program for innovation, the “Inclusive Innovation-led Industrial
Strategy” (i3S) that seeks to attract more businesses and investments to the
country and see Filipinos’ innovations contribute to high value-added
activities in regional and global value chains. The i3S also highlights the
importance of intellectual property rights (IPR) in creating an innovation and
entrepreneurship ecosystem.
Secretary Lopez also showed numbers on IPR applications
in the Philippines in 2018. I expanded the numbers he gave by getting data from
2014 to 2019 first half (H1) and the data indeed saw big expansion in IPR
applications: a 17% rise in 2017, 13% in 2018 and 11% in 2019 H1 (see Table 1).
In his presentation, Geneva Network (UK) Executive
Director Philip Stevens explained that the report is a collaboration among five
independent think tanks from five ASEAN countries plus the Geneva Network. The
report will help raise awareness of the importance of IPRs for economic
progress and proposed principles and recommendations for a high standard IP
system in the region.
Philip cited the World Intellectual Property Organization
(WIPO) report where one-third of the value of manufactured goods sold globally
($5.9 trillion) comes from intangible capital. Small businesses’ greatest
opportunity then is to integrate into global value chains, offering specialized
services or manufacturing capabilities.
On trademark in particular, Philip said that
trademark-intensive industries are worth about 20% of the Philippines’ GDP.
Trademark protection is essential for investment by foreign companies and the
Philippines’ economic progress, but counterfeits are widespread: reported were
P8.2 billion of counterfeit goods seized in 2017, up from P6.5 billion in 2016,
and these include fake medicines, machine spare parts, IT goods, luxury items.
I checked trademark application (direct and via the
Madrid system) data at the WIPO website — the Philippines’ numbers were low
compared to its neighbors but the pace of expansion was impressive, only
18,600+ in 2011 to 31,000+ in 2017 (see Table 2).
Reactors to the presentation by Philip were Josephine R.
Santiago, Director General of the Intellectual Property Office of the
Philippines (IPOPHL), Jesus B. Varela, Director for Intellectual Property of
the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI), and Kristine F.
Alcantara, a Fellow of the Foundation for Economic Freedom (FEF).
Ms. Santiago narrated how IPOPHL encourages more use of
IPR by Philippine businesses (see Table 1 again), clamping down on fakes and
counterfeits. Mr. Varela urged collaborative effort to fight illicit trade,
counterfeit products and services that steal from legitimate businesses, by
enhancing transparency of the supply chain, and how GS1 barcoding helps here.
Ms. Alcantara spoke about the Philippines’ compliance with international IPR
commitments.
Forum emcee, George Katigbak, also of FEF, eloquently
summarized many points and elicited questions from the audience, topics and
concerns that included compulsory licensing of patented innovator medicines,
drug price control, and patent linkage, among others.
This coming Oct. 16, another IPR-related international
forum will be held in Manila. It is the global launching by the Property Rights
Alliance (PRA, Washington DC) of the International Property Rights Index (IPRI)
2019 Report, to be held at Fairmont Hotel Makati. Co-sponsoring with PRA in
this big event will be FEF and Minimal Government Thinkers.
After the official launch of IPRI 2019, to be led by
author Dr. Sary Levy-Carciente, and PRA Executive Director Lorenzo Montanari, I
will discuss my paper, “Banning brand: economic and consumer impact of plain
packaging.” IPOPHL Director General Josephine Santiago, Kristine Alcantara and
an officer of International Trademark Association regional office in Singapore
will react to my paper. More discussions on IPR, trademark and corporate brand
in this column in the next few weeks.
---------------
See also:
No comments:
Post a Comment