In a report on Monday from Reuters, it was announced that the U.S. Trade Representative said that the United States had removed the Philippines from its blacklist of countries that have not properly protected U.S. copyrights and patents.

Philippine copyright law is partially based on U.S. copyright law and the principles of the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works. Philippine copyright laws also protect patents, trademarks, and other forms of intellectual property. There are also other laws that protect copyrights such as the Optical Media Act, which protects music, movies, computer programs, and video games.

According to the USTR, the Philippines had introduced better laws to protect intellectual property rights and had also augmented their enforcement, which led to the removal from the U.S. blacklist. Some of the changes to Philippine copyright laws took place in 2012. Republic Act No. 10372 was a new act that amended certain provisions of the previous Republic Act No 8293, otherwise known as “Intellectual Property Code of the Philippines.”

"Although significant challenges remain, the commitment of Philippine authorities and the results achieved merit this change in status," the office said.

Prior to the celebration of the World Intellectual Property Day on April 26, 2014, the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines released a report on their accomplishments in which it was stated, "DG Blancaflor expressed his hope for the Philippines to be finally removed from the United States Trade Representative (USTR) "Special 301" Report as early this year the call for the Philippines to be removed from the watchlist has received support from the international community."

President Obama and senior U.S. officials visited the Philippines on Monday as the last stop on a week-long tour of Asia.