Philippine Inventors to Benefit from WIPO's "Inventor Assistance Program" thru IPOPHL

WIPO DDG John Sandage

The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and the World Economic Forum (WEF) launched its 3^rd Inventor Assistance Program (IAP) in the Philippines as part of their globalization strategies on IP collaborations following the success of Colombia and Morocco on their IAP accession.  Pioneering companies who sponsored the IAP are Novartis, IFIA, and QUALCOMM, benefitting them as well with global patent prosecution and protection. WIPO Deputy Director General for Patents and Technology Sector, Mr. John Sandage, delivered his speech on behalf of WIPO, emphasized the importance of the 3^rd IAP Pilot launch in the Philippines as a developing country with a vibrant local innovations scenario that can be seen by a high number of Innovation and Technology Support Centers nationwide. Mr. Sandage assured that WIPO would continue collaboration with Philippine authorities and the IPOPHL in order to make the IP successful and to help local inventors get Patents.

Mr. Marco Aleman, WIPO Director for Patent Law Division

The launching in the Philippines of the Inventor Assistance Program (IAP) is the culminating event during the National Seminar on Patents and Innovation last 01 March 2016. According to Mr. Marco Aleman, WIPO Acting Director for Patent Law Division, the main objective of the IAP is to spur patenting of inventions by incentivizing local inventors by partnering them with International IP Lawyers and experts for free assistance throughout the patent process/prosecution. IAP as a whole will benefit the inventors, the society in general, Patent Offices, and Patent Attorneys. During the event, various topics related to IAP were presented to more than 300 attendees from the academe, industry associations, government offices, and inventors. 

Topic discussions focused on the Patent System as a Tool for Promoting Innovation as well as the latest Trends and Figures on Patent Filings/Grants on Innovation were presented by Mr. Aleman.  A briefer on the current situation of Innovation in the Philippines and IPOPHL’s support to Innovators were discussed by Atty. Allan B. Gepty, IPOPHL Deputy Director General  for Advocacy, Policy and International Relations.

IAP benefit testimonials from one of the large corporations such as Mr. Corey Salsberg, Novartis International AG Switzerland Head for International IP Policy, attested in giving them more inspiration in providing better medicines, while the role of the Patent Attorney was substantiated by Mr. Alvaro Correa, Partner of Baker‐McKenzie Colombia and is a Member of the IAP Steering Committee.  

ITSOs Representatives from USC and UP with Director Carmen Paralta

Experiences from Philippine Universities and Research Centers on Benefits from Patents were presented by Dr. Danilo Largo, Director of Research and ITSO Manager University of San Carlos and Mr.  Ace Acosta, Senior Technology Transfer Officer, University Research Associate  and ITSO Manager, of the University of the Philippines.  Both universities were able to corroborate highly commercialized inventions through technology transfer and joint venture business partnerships between schools and private entities.  With the launching of the IAP, the Innovation and Technology Support Offices (ITSOs) nationwide will make the program an additional incentive to boost IP commercialization.  The Technology and Innovation Support Centers  (TISC), with a local counterpart ITSO, as a global WIPO project was comprehensively discussed by Mr. Andrew Czajkowski, Head, WIPO Innovation and Technology Support Section - Global Infrastructure Sector,  stressing the value of the Patent Information to develop new solutions to technical challenges faced in the country, or adapt existing technologies to suit local conditions.

The Innovation and Technology sectors in the Philippines will expect more global support in the coming years from WIPO and other IP Office partners all over the world.

For more Information on Inventor Assistance Program, visit www.wipo.org

PATENT OWNERS ADVISED TO UPDATE ANNUITIES PAYMENT TO PRESERVE INVENTIONS AND CREATIONS

Patent licensing is an income generating business for intellectual property owners, inventors or research and development facilities which they can use to earn revenues. Royalty fees derived from the license agreements for patents can be maximized within the twenty (20) year legal lifetime of the patent.

A patent owner should consider his patents as part of his major assets. However, patents are intangible assets, but in terms of value, they cannot be belittled. Finding out a patent’s value can be mind-blowing. As such, like any property, e.g. a car that needs to be well maintained or a financial investment that needs to be properly managed, patents also need to be maintained.

The Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHIL) has given it’s all out support for the protection of Intellectual Property rights, e.g. the rights of Patent owners. As a government agency, the IPOPHIL works to preserve and protect innovations, inventions, and creations of the Patent owners. With its mandate as a protector of intellectual property rights, the IPOPHIL has continuously improved its services. As an added-value-service, the agency makes sure that the Patent owners would be reminded periodically on payments of annuities to maintain ownership of their respective Patent. Through the years as records show,  it has been observed, that Patent owners fail to maintain ownership of their Patents or Intellectual Property Rights (IPR). It would appear that there are patent owners who simply lose interest or just simply forget to maintain their patents. From year 2012 to 2014, the percentage of lapsed patents was recorded at 29% versus total applications and registered with the Bureau of Patents.

Per IP Code of the Philippines, “If the annual fee is not paid, the patent application shall be deemed withdrawn or the patent shall be considered as lapsed from the day following the expiration of the period within which the annual fee was due.” For those Patent owners who inadvertently neglected to pay for the maintenance service of the IPOPHIL on their Patent, they are provided a grace period. “A grace period of six (6) months shall be granted for the payment of the annual fee, upon payment of the prescribed surcharge for delayed payment.” As such, owners of lapsed Patents due to non-payment of annuity, are given owners ample time to redeem their IPR upon full payment of the required annuity balances and surcharge.

It is important for Patent Owners to realize that when they maintain ownership of said IPR, they can earn income from it in many ways like licensing or franchising, joint venture projects, technology transfer, and even selling the patents itself,  just like selling a Real Estate Property.  As Patent owners, it would be much easier to maintain your patent ownership than feeling sorry for abandoning it. It would be one big missed opportunity when, some time later, you learn that someone else is benefitting from your lost IPR. By then, you can do nothing legally about it.  

Patent Owners are advised to consult or acquire the services of an IP Law Professional or Practitioner in order to learn more on how to maximize your IPR ownership. You may also visit www.ipophil.gov.ph or call 238-6300 for more details about your Patent maintenance, schedule of annuity payments, benefits, and advantages.

words:  Froilan T. Buizon and Maria Minda G. del Rio, IPO DITTB