Statement of IPOPHL DG Rowel Barba on RCEP as mega FTA enters into force

June 21, 2023

As the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) came into force earlier this month, the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL) looks forward to a regional value chain of innovation and creativity built firmly on transparency, efficiency and cooperation. 

Chapter 11 or the Intellectual Property (IP) Chapter of RCEP, which was negotiated by IPOPHL, affirms the imperative to reduce impediments to trade and investment through the effective and adequate creation, utilization, protection and enforcement of IP rights. It recognizes members’ different levels of economic development and capacity; differences in national legal systems; and the need to maintain an appropriate balance between rights of IP right holders and the legitimate interests of users and the public interest; and a transparent IP system that helps provide confidence to right holders, among others. 

Filipino IP owners and rights holders doing business in any of the RCEP member-countries could be assured of more harmonized and predictable rules and practices as RCEP members commit to ratify and accede to key international agreements on IP. This ensures the protection of the IP rights of Filipinos outside of the Philippines, particularly in countries signatory to RCEP. 

Even before the entry into force in the Philippines of the RCEP Agreement, IPOPHL has been preparing and already improving our services. Aside from completing accession and ratification of key international treaties on IP, we have streamlined our procedures, provided reliable e-services in IP administration, built a transparent IP system and continue to strengthen IP enforcement both in the physical markets and in the digital environment. 

Moving forward, we hope to use various provisions to our advantage, such as the Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge, and Folklore (Article 11.53), which is a unique feature for a free trade agreement. With the rich indigenous, cultural, and environmental resources the Philippines is blessed with, the protection of genetic resources, traditional knowledge, and folklore has been an offensive interest for the Philippines even at the very start of the negotiations. It is crucial for us that there is recognition of the need to protect and adequately safeguard the community intellectual rights of our indigenous and cultural communities, as well as their ownership over products sacred to their culture and communal identity. 

As RCEP also puts emphasis on cooperation, IPOPHL will step up to the plate. We will come to our new partners’ aid in complying with their commitments and finding the best protection and enforcement measures appropriate for their innovative and economic needs. We will impart our best practices and help transform the region into a model for using IP judiciously and flexibly while cognizant of the rules-based trading system.