Philippines Supreme Court launches revised IP rules
The highest court in the Philippines has officially launched the ‘2020 Revised Rules of Procedure for Intellectual Property Rights Cases’ in an effort to improve, facilitate, and expedite the litigation of IP rights.
Chief Justice Peralta led the Supreme Court of the Philippines’ online launch of the revised rules on Wednesday, December 12. During the launch, Associate Justice Gesmundo explained that the revised rules were designed to facilitate creative activity, innovation, technology transfer, and foreign investment.
He said that the revised rules set out, for the first time, what will be accepted by courts as proof of actual use of a mark in trademark infringement and unfair competition cases. Another provision in the revised rules allows the use of market surveys as evidence to prove primary significance, distinctiveness of a mark, and likelihood of confusion.
Also, due to the increasing number of IP cases before the Philippines’ special commercial courts, the revised rules have reduced the timeframe in which a judgment must be given in IP cases from 90 calendar days to 60 calendar days.
A number of other procedural changes are introduced in the revised rules, relating to matters such as the timescales to file and serve responses, the extraterritorial service of summons, and the ability of special commercial courts to issue writs of search and seizure in both civil and criminal proceedings.
According to Peralta, the revised rules are the result of extensive consultations between the judiciary, practitioners, academics, the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines, and stakeholders across a range of sectors.
Peralta added that the inclusion of the revised rules in judicial training programmes will enhance judicial education in the Philippines, as well as being ”an essential tool for the courts and all concerned stakeholders to safeguard and thwart any infringement on IP rights”.
The revised rules were approved by the Supreme Court on October 6, 2020, and took effect on November 16. A full copy can be viewed here.
