The Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL) is optimistic that the anti-piracy measures at Greenhills Shopping Center (GSC) are enough to warrant the popular mall’s exclusion from a United States (US)-based watch list of notorious markets.

“We're really optimistic. And of course, they'll help us there,” IPOPHL Acting Director General Nathaniel Arevalo told reporters.

Arevalo said GSC management has been cooperative with the government and its efforts to purge the mall of counterfeit merchandise, a problem that has earned it an infamous reputation as a marketplace for knockoffs.

Last year, the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) included GSC as the sole physical market in the country in its Notorious Markets for Counterfeiting and Piracy Review.

USTR annually compiles the watch list to identify notorious physical and online markets that may cause harm to IP owners, workers, and consumers.

The foreign agency attributed GSC’s inclusion to its continued involvement in and benefit from high levels of piracy and counterfeiting.

In IPOPHL’s submission to USTR last month, Arevalo wrote that the government has made “significant progress” in addressing the sale of counterfeit and pirated goods at the shopping complex, enough to remove it from the watch list.

Arevalo noted that law enforcement agencies continue to enforce IP rights in GSC through raids that have led to the seizure of fake goods.

He said the mall, as part of its own initiative, has implemented measures such as more stringent identification protocols to expedite the crackdown on infringing goods through

“That's what we're saying that the cooperation between the government and the private sector is getting stronger,” he said. “We need to plant seeds for the long-term solution instead of band-aid.”

Arevalo added that GSC will soon be home to the National Committee on Intellectual Property Rights (NCIPR), which will set up a help desk to maintain strong compliance with IP rights and deter violators.

The help desk will be operational early next year, and if deemed successful, similar stations will be installed in other shopping malls.

“We will provide them with all the support so that they can achieve their objective because it's also for them, it's not good if you are known as [notorious],” said Aravelo.

IPOPHL earlier said that the government has also made progress in IP enforcement for other markets flagged for piracy, such as 199 Shopping Mall and 168 Shopping Mall, both in Manila.

The 199 and 168 malls, alongside GSC, were identified by New York-based Transnational Alliance to Combat Illicit Trade (TRACIT) as physical markets that still engage in or facilitate substantial counterfeiting.

In creating its watch list, the USTR gathers submissions from rights holders and industry groups such as TRACIT to identify physical and online markets for possible inclusion.