Manila: An official from the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL) has called on businesses with registered trademarks to report any infringement of their products. This plea is part of the agency's ongoing efforts to combat the sale of counterfeit goods and ensure that only high-quality products are available to consumers.

According to Philippines News Agency, IPOPHL's acting Director General Nathaniel Arevalo shared that the value of confiscated counterfeit goods as of the end of September this year reached approximately PHP26 billion. The majority of these seized goods consist of garments and bags. This figure is lower than the PHP35.24 billion recorded during the same period in the previous year, 2024.

For the entirety of 2024, counterfeit goods seized by the inter-agency National Committee on Intellectual Property Rights (NCIPR) amounted to PHP40.99 billion. Arevalo refrained from providing a forecast for the potential seizures in the last quarter of the current year. He noted that this period typically sees the highest volume of counterfeit activity as unscrupulous businesses seek to capitalize on improved consumer spending.

Arevalo did not offer specific reasons for the decreased value of seized counterfeit goods in the first nine months of the year, citing pending reports from other NCIPR members to provide additional context. He emphasized that IPOPHL cannot tackle counterfeit operations alone and relies on collaboration with other agencies and the active involvement of intellectual property holders.

He stated, "When it comes to intellectual property, this is still a private offense. Meaning, if there are no complaints or if there is no participation of the IP owner, we cannot just seize the items," highlighting the importance of IP holders' participation in reporting violations.