PHILIPPINES Law and Practice Contributed by: Katrina Doble, Danielle Francesca San Pedro, Maria Patricia Cruz and Kyle Gino Salazar, Villaraza & Angangco
12.2 Trade Mark and Copyright Use on the Internet The IPOPHL issued Memorandum Circular 23-025, also known as the Rules on Voluntary Administrative Site Blocking, on 20 Septem - ber 2023, and it came into effect on 14 Janu - ary 2024. It empowers 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 com - plaint, the Supervising Director of the IPOPHL’s Intellectual Property Rights Enforcement Office (IEO-IPOPHL) may request ISPs to block or dis - able access to such sites. Non-compliance by ISPs will result in the referral of the matter to the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) for appropriate action. In addition, Republic Act No 11967 (the Inter - net Transactions Act) was enacted on 24 July 2023 and established the E-Commerce Bureau to regulate business-to-business and business- to-consumer online transactions involving Phil - ippine markets or participants. Under Section 26(b), the law imposes subsidiary liability on digital platforms that fail to promptly remove or block services infringing on intellectual prop - erty rights following a notice or takedown order from a relevant government agency. This provi - sion aligns with IPOPHL Memorandum Circular 2023-025, emphasising the role of site blocking to combat copyright violations online.
In criminal cases, any party may file an appeal, except where it would result in double jeopardy for the accused. The appeal is initiated by sub - mitting 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 petition for review on certiorari under Rule 45 of the Rules of Court, raising only ques - tions of law. 11.2 Timeframes for Appealing Trial Court Decisions Please see 11.1 Appellate Procedure . 12. Additional Considerations 12.1 Emerging Issues The Philippines currently does not have specific laws or jurisprudence that explicitly address the interaction between trade mark and copyright law with AI systems. However, speaking at the 2nd Philippine Inter - national Copyright Summit held from 21–25 October 2024, IPOPHL Director General Rowel Barba announced the IPOPHL’s plans to release guidelines that will ensure copyright protections remain applicable and relevant amidst techno - logical advancements.
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