Copyright owners are asking where are the bogus-branded goods and pirated CDs confiscated by government agents in raids.

The International Intellectual Property Alliance (IIPA) said that the final disposition of pirated goods and materials and implements found in various raids is unknown.

The group of copyright owners has asked Washington to retain the Philippines in the watch list of intellectual property violators this year because of its failure to be transparent and the continued photo copying of books.

The Philippines, IIPA said, should be subjected in an out-of-cycle review to determine if the government has taken adequate steps to address these concerns.

In its recommendation posted on its website to United States Trade representatives Susan Schwab on the annual Special 301 review, the group recognized "some good work" done by the Philippines government in the fight against copyright piracy.

These included the shutting down some plants manufacturing optical discs in raids conducted by the Optical Media Board (OMB) and the actions taken by the Philippine National Police (PNP) on right holder requests and informing right holders of specific piracy issues.

The group said there is a "lack of criminal conviction against pirate plant owners and mall owners, general ineffectiveness of the courts hearing piracy cases".

IIPA said the continued proliferation of illegal photocopying of books, offset print piracy, and CD-R "burning" had severely damaged US book publishers in the Philippines.

The IIPA also lamented the inability of the government to go after the key pirate operators, including plant owners, mall operators and pirate book producers who are partly responsible in insulating those who engaged in piracy.

"There have been only a handful of criminal cases that have proceeded to conviction and some of those cases, as well as some criminal cases that remain pending, were commenced over 10 years ago," the IIPA said.

The group also made special mention of the fact signal theft or cable theft remains a major problem in the country.

In its out-of-cycle review in February last year, USTR downgraded the Philippines to the watch list from priority watch list after improvements in IPR protection.

IIPA submitted recommendations on copyright protection, enforcement, and market access problems in 60 countries/territories, of which it recommends that 45 be placed on an appropriate USTR list.