left to right: Yamaha Motor Philippines, Inc. (YMPH) After Sales Director Takayuki Kurokawa, YMPH President Katsuya “Kyle” IIDA, and IPOPHL Officer-in-Charge Nathaniel S. Arevalo
Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd. recently signed its agreement to join the E-Commerce Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to better protect consumers against the surge of counterfeit products and maintain consumer trust in its brand.
At the signing this week, Officer-in-Charge Nathaniel S. Arevalo of the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL)—which oversees the implementation of the MOU—recognized the initiative of Yamaha as a significant move to protect riders.
“Today, motorcycles have become an essential part of daily life and play a key role in the country’s economic development. They provide an affordable mode of transportation and serve as a source of income through motorcycle taxi services and delivery operations for online purchases. The manufacturing of motorcycles and their parts also creates jobs and attracts investments, contributing to industrial growth. However, the rise in motorcycle use and online transactions has led to an increase in counterfeit products,” Arevalo said.
“As such, this effort from Yamaha demonstrates how companies can step up to ensure public safety and work with government, industry and consumers to address the global issue of counterfeits,” Arevalo added.
Yamaha Motor Philippines President Katsuya Iida said joining the E-Commerce MOU is “a great way” to combat counterfeits online as the MOU is joined by major e-commerce platforms TikTok Shop, Shopee, Lazada and Zalora.
With Yamaha’s “proactive” acquisition and use of IP assets, he said the company understands the need for robust protection of IP rights “for accelerating innovation, inspiring creativity and making social development faster and healthier.”
“Through ongoing countermeasures for combatting unauthorized usage of Group intellectual property and counterfeit products, issues that are on the rise across the globe, the Yamaha Group continues to take action against these problems in order to eliminate the economic disadvantage for consumers while ensuring safety and maintaining trust in the Yamaha brand,” IIda added, who shared that the company is also fostering an organizational culture built on respecting the IP rights of others.
IP Rights Enforcement Office Supervising Director Christine V. Pangilinan-Canlapan said Yamaha could also benefit from the IEO’s efforts to conduct basic IP training for employees to further strengthen its culture of IP respect.
Founded in 1955, Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd. manufactures products under the categories of land mobility; marine use; robotics; financial services; and others, such as golf cars and generators, among others. Its local arm, Yamaha Motor Philippines, manufactures and sells motorcycles, bicycles and similar equipment.
In 2023, nearly 40% of Yamaha’s sales were derived from Asia, making it its largest market, followed by North America.
