P987M in counterfeit goods seized in Q1

MANILA, Philippines—The multi-agency National Committee on Intellectual Property Rights (NCIPR) seized P986.5 million worth of counterfeit goods in the first quarter, up 28 percent from the P771.2 million recorded in the same period last year.

According to data from NCIPR member-agency Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL), the enforcement body with the biggest haul was the National Bureau of Investigation, with the value of confiscated goods amounting to P509.6 million.

In the January-March period, the NBI issued 295 search warrants, leading to the seizure of 200,574 pieces of different counterfeit goods.

More aggressive raids allowed the Optical Media Board to bring in the second highest value of pirated products at P326.5 million. This haul stemmed from 455 inspections nationwide, which led to the seizure of close to 1.2 million pieces and 2,539.5 boxes and sacks of pirated optical media.

The Bureau of Customs added another P140 million to the NCIPR’s total haul for the period. Available data, however, only came up to end-February. The Philippine National Police seized nearly P10.4 million worth of counterfeit products, as a result of 179 search warrants issued in the first three months.

Last month, IPOPHL and Customs destroyed more than P300 million worth of seized counterfeit goods, including fake Energizer batteries and Louis Vuitton, Gucci and Chanel products. Also among the destroyed smuggled and counterfeit products were those bearing Lacoste, Breitling and Nike brands.

This was the largest haul to be destroyed by IPOPHL and Customs authorities for the first quarter.

Last year, the NCIPR member-agencies’ total seizures amounted to almost P5.3 billion, slightly lower than the close to P5.7 billion worth of counterfeit goods confiscated in 2009.