(In photo: Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines Director General Rowel S. Barba.)
The Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL) has introduced a new central database platform that will enable the National Committee on Intellectual Property Rights (NCIPR) to harness data more effectively and speed up its work in cracking down against counterfeiting and piracy.
The IP Enforcement Tracking System was presented by the software developer Multisys Technologies Corp. at the annual NCIPR High Level Meeting held last Nov. 17. Multisys showed a user-friendly dashboard through which NCIPR members can upload their data, better coordinate on IP cases and access information shared by other members anytime and anywhere through their computers or mobile devices.
The digital data platform will provide a system for the proper collection, storage and management of information, which includes records on complaints received; search warrants applied for and served; seizures; alert orders; cases prosecuted by and those still pending before the Department of Justice; those pending with and decided by the courts; and other enforcement data.
The platform will provide improved tracking of the investigative progress and deadlines of each case. It could also expedite coordination by providing alerts on the necessary next steps on a case and assigning or reminding users through notifications.
Director General Rowel S. Barba said having a central platform for enforcement data and case coordination will further support the NCIPR’s functions. The NCIPR is responsible for ensuring the implementation of enforcement laws and regulations in the country, proposing policy and legislative measures and submitting annual reports to the President, Executive Secretary and Congress to provide updates on the counterfeiting and piracy situation in the country.“
With this IP Enforcement Tracking System, the NCIPR now has a reliable and organized source of database which each member can ingest and analyze to deliver what is expected from each of us. Particularly, having a trove of intelligence can help us identify modus patterns, potential leads and emerging hot spots for IP infringement activities and would help in profiling IP rights violators. In all, it harmonizes our data processing practices and allows us to use more of our hours building data-driven strategies rather than in manually collating and tallying our records ,” Barba said.
In the next few months, IPOPHL, as host and administrator of the platform, will be training NCIPR members to upload and encode data into the system and also encourage them to integrate the use of the platform into their regular routine when working on enforcement activities.
Aside from NCIPR members, IPOPHL, as vice-chair and secretariat of the NCIPR, is enjoining all special commercial courts to submit all information regarding IP cases before their sala, including issuances of search warrants and transmitted copy of decisions to the IPOPHL. Reporting on IP cases will fulfill their compliance with the 2022 Revised Rules of Procedure on IP Rights Cases issued by the Supreme Court.
The development of the IP Enforcement Tracking System started early this year with the support of the Jaime V. Ongpin Foundation, Inc. to develop the database platform.
The 15-member NCIPR is steered by the Department of Trade and Industry as chair. Its members include the Department of Justice, Bureau of Customs, Food and Drug Authority, National Bureau of Investigation, Philippine National Police and the Optical Media Board.
Other members are the National Book Development Board, Office of the Special Envoy on Transnational Crime, Department of the Interior and Local Government, National Telecommunications Commission, Department of Information and Communications Technology, Bureau of Internal Revenue and Bureau of Immigration.