Published March 5, 2021, 9:53 AM
The coronavirus pandemic has also triggered a spike in reports related to piracy and intellectual property rights in 2020 even exceeding the total cases recorded by the government from 2013 to 2019.
At a House hearing Thursday, March 4, Intellectual Property Office of the Philippine (IPOPHL) Assistant Director Ann Edillon disclosed to lawmakers that the agency received 190 reports on piracy and counterfeiting last year, which was more than the total 146 reports that the IPOPHL got from 2013 to 2019.
“We attribute it partially of course to the fact that because of COVID[-19], everything has gone online,” said Edillon, who heads the IPOPHL’s enforcement office.