Philippines lies in the south east of Asia and is a member of ASEAN, which helps it building close relationship with neighboring countries in many fields including intellectual property. Philippines joined WIPO in 1980 and is a member of WIPO Copyright Treaty, Patent Cooperation Treaty, Budapest Treaty, Paris Convention, and Berne Convention. The main IP laws in Philippines include Philippine Plant Variety Protection Act of 2002, Philippine Technology Transfer Act of 2009, and Intellectual Property Code of the Philippines which was first enacted in 1997 and last amended in 2013. The amendments are the following: establishment of the Bureau of Copyright and Other Related Rights within the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL); grant of specific enforcement functions to the Director General of IPOPHL and his deputies; implementation of technological protection measures and rights management information for copyrighted works disseminated through Internet; copyright limitations and exceptions for the benefit of visually-impaired persons; fair use exceptions to copyright; and clarifications on copyright infringements.