PHILIPPINES Law and Practice Contributed by: Katrina Doble, Danielle Francesca San Pedro, Edward King Chua and Maria Patricia Cruz, Villaraza & Angangco
own initiative, to determine whether they are liable for seizure and forfeiture pursuant to the law. To record IP rights with the BOC, the following docu - ments are required: • a notarised Power of Attorney authorising the agent to act for the IP owner; • an affidavit and application form, listing the details of the IP rights and distributors; • proof of ownership in the form of registration certificates, an affidavit of ownership, or a court decision indicating ownership; and • two product samples or digital photos/manuals if the products are bulky or expensive. The process takes about two weeks and the outcome is valid for two years, and is renewable thereafter. However, Customs Administrative Orders 6-2002 and 9-2008 prohibit only the entry of infringing, counter - feit and pirated goods. The IP Code is likewise silent as to the trade mark and copyright owner’s right to prevent the importation of genuine goods that have been lawfully placed in the market abroad. Therefore, parallel importation for trade marked and copyrighted goods remains a grey area that is currently allowed in the Philippines. Decisions issued by the BLA director in administra - tive IP rights violation cases may be appealed to the ODG within 30 days from notice. Appeals can address errors of both law and fact. ODG decisions can be fur - ther appealed to the Court of Appeals via a petition for review under Rule 43 of the Rules of Court within 15 days from notice, based on questions of fact and law. For civil infringement cases, decisions and final orders of the SCC must be appealed to the Court of Appeals within 15 days from notice through a Rule 43 petition, addressing both fact and law. In criminal cases, any party may file an appeal, except where it would result in double jeopardy for 11. Appeal 11.1 Appellate Procedure
the accused. The appeal is initiated by submitting a notice of appeal to the SCC within 15 calendar days of judgment or notice under Rule 122 of the Rules of Court. The SCC clerk will then transmit the complete case record to the Court of Appeals. The Court of Appeals’ decisions on appealed cases may be elevated to the Supreme Court through a peti - tion for review on certiorari under Rule 45 of the Rules of Court, raising only questions of law. 11.2 Timeframes for Appealing Trial Court Decisions Please see 11.1 Appellate Procedure . The Philippines currently does not have specific laws or jurisprudence that explicitly address the interac - tion between trade mark and copyright law with AI systems. The IPOPHL recently issued its Examination Guide - lines of Inventions, Utility Model, and Industrial Design Applications Relating to Artificial Intelligence, but no similar guidelines have yet been issued for trade marks or copyright. Nonetheless, the IPOPHL’s Copy - right Registry Enrollment Form was recently updated and now requires the applicant to indicate if the work sought to be registered was AI-generated, to provide the name of the software or application used, and to describe the extent of use. So far, no similar require - ments have been applied to trade mark applications. 12.2 Trade Mark and Copyright Use on the Internet The Rules on Voluntary Administrative Site Blocking, which came into effect on 14 January 2024, empower the IPOPHL to issue site blocking or takedown orders to ISPs hosting infringing content. A pirated website is defined as one primarily designed to infringe or facilitate copyright violations, containing unauthorised goods, materials or content. Upon a valid complaint, the IPOPHL’s Intellectual Property Rights Enforcement Office may request ISPs to block or disable access to such sites. Non-compliance by ISPs will result in the 12. Additional Considerations 12.1 Emerging Issues
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