PHILIPPINES Trends and Developments Contributed by: Katrina Doble, Danielle Francesca San Pedro, Edward King Chua and Kyle Gino Salazar, Villaraza & Angangco
• any use of a GI that constitutes an act of unfair competition within the meaning of Article 10bis of the Paris Convention; and • any other use similar or analogous to the above. Applicants for GI registration in the Philippines are limited to: • producers or producers’ organisations or associa - tions directly involved in the extraction, production or manufacture of the goods covered by the GI; • government agencies or local government units with jurisdiction over the geographical origin of the goods; • representatives of foreign governments, relative to the GI of its nationals, whose laws afford the same rights and protection to Philippine nationals; and • organisations or associations or indigenous cultural communities/indigenous peoples appointed by the preceding parties. A qualified foreign applicant not domiciled in the Philippines and without a real and effective commer - cial establishment in the Philippines must designate a Philippine resident, or a representative from the Embassy, Consulate or Chamber of Commerce in the Philippines of the country where the relevant goods originated, who may be served with notices or pro - cess affecting the GI. Since the 2022 GI Rules came into effect, only three local GIs have been granted registration: • “Guimaras Mangoes” for mangoes harvested in the province of Guimaras – the first GI to receive certification from the IPOPHL; • “Aklan Piña” for handwoven textiles produced in the province of Aklan, Panay, which was inscribed in 2023 on the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Herit - age of Humanity List; and • “Alburquerque Asin Tibuok” for the artisanal salt hailing from the coastal barangays of Alburquer - que, Bohol, which was officially included in the UNESCO List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Protection in 2025. Meanwhile, five foreign GIs have successfully been certified under the Rules:
• “Cognac or Eau-De-Vie De Cognac or Eau-De-Vie Des Charentes”; • “Scotch Whisky”; • “Parmigiano Reggiano”; • “Prosecco”; and • “Côtes De Provence”. Taken together, these developments underscore that GI protection in the Philippines remains at a nascent but steadily evolving stage. While the number of reg - istered GIs, both local and foreign, since the effectivity of the 2022 GI Rules on 20 November 2022 seems minimal, the adoption of the Rules has laid the frame - work for a functional and enforceable GI regime. The current landscape reflects both the opportunities and challenges inherent in introducing a new sys - tem, not least of which is lack of awareness among stakeholders, as well as untested regulations without guiding precedents. Against this backdrop, a closer examination of the application procedure and docu - mentary requirements under the new system becomes essential to understanding how GIs may be effectively registered, protected and enforced in the Philippines moving forward. The application procedure and requirements under the new system Briefly, an application for the registration of a GI in the Philippines under the 2022 GI Rules requires the following: • the details of the applicant, including legal status and address for service; • the name of the GI and the goods covered; • a description of the delimited geographical area; • a description of the product’s qualities or reputa - tion attributable to its geographical origin or human factors; • a copy of the manual of specifications, setting out production processes, standards, quality control measures and labelling rules; and • certification from the government agency con - cerned or the equivalent independent body validat - ing the causal link between the specific quality, reputation or other characteristic of the goods and the geographical area where it originated or was produced, and the technical information pertain -
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