21 May 2008, Makati City – Five foreign speakers and some 20 Filipino experts on intellectual property (IP) and technology commercialization today joined at least 200 delegates of state universities and colleges (SUC) and higher education institutions (HEI) in the country for the First National Conference on IP and Technology Commercialization. The two-day event, organized by the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines  (IP Philippines) and the Commission on Higher Education (CHED), will run until May 22 at the Ballroom of the Renaissance Makati City Hotel.

“We have gathered some of the best minds in the field of IP and technology commercialization to share with representatives of universities and research and development institutions (RDI) strategies on how they could commercialize IP assets,” Atty. Adrian S. Cristobal, Jr., Director General of IP Philippines, said. “Our panel of experts has presented the international and national perspectives of IP protection and commercialization, which highlight the economic value of IP and the vital role of academic institutions in generating technologies,” he added.

Cristobal said that the national conference brings together allied government agencies such as the CHED, the Department of Science and Technology (DoST), legislators and the private sector to help the academic sector establish an IP policy, a technology licensing office (TLO) to manage the IP assets, and technology transfer modes.   

Jared Nyagua from the IP and New Technologies Division of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) outlined the importance of IP protection and commercialization in his

presentation. He provided business models for IP portfolio gains such as Xerox whose IP royalties rose from US$10 million to US$100 million in over two years. Nyagua has been with WIPO for close to a decade.

As a senior program officer of the division of the Office of Strategic Use of Intellectual Property for Economic Development, Nyagua is responsible for collaboration with WIPO Member States in developing National IP Strategies.  The Philippine IP Policy Strategy (PIPPS), which IP Philippines led in crafting, was presented to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo at the National Innovation Summit last year. Universities and RDI forms part of the eight sectors representing the country’s IP assets in the PIPPS.
 
Nguyen-Truong Le of Fraunhofer Technology Department Group TEG, in his presentation, identified opportunities for technology commercialization. Potential buyers, Le said, could be sourced from patent data, cross industry innovations, or technology expert interviews. Fraunhofer is one of the leading organizations for applied research in Europe with 56 institutes in 40 different locations. It has an annual budget of over 1 billion (Euros) for research and development.   
                                                                   
Other foreign speakers of the conference include Dr. Kitisri Sukhapinda, patent attorney of the Office of Intellectual Property Policy and Enforcement of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and former acting director of the Technology Licensing Office of the National Science and Technology Development Agency in Thailand; Michael J. Martin, president of TechTransfer Associates, who has more than 30 years of experience in business development and technology transfer and; Philip Heuzenroeder, principal of Spruson & Ferguson, one of Australia’s leading patent and trademark and IP law firms.  

CHED Commissioner Dr. Nenalyn P. Defensor, who delivered the opening address of the conference, leads the Filipino team of experts. Dr. Graciano P. Yumul, Jr., Undersecretary for Research and Development of the DoST, presented the state of IP commercialization in the

country while Dr. Luis G. Sison, vice-chancellor of the University of the Philippines (Diliman campus) and Atty. Christopher Cruz, Director of the IP Office of the De La Salle
University (Taft campus) shared academic institutions’ experience in crafting and implementing IP policies.       

Other Filipino experts in the conference are Virgilio R. Angelo, chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of the Small Business Corporation (SBC); Daniel Pagulayan, executive director of ICCP Venture Partners; Representative Joseph Emilio A. Abaya; Anna Manrique, vice president of Moondish Food Corporation and; Maoi Arroyo, president and CEO of Hybridigm.