Commissioner Dr. Nenalyn P. Defensor reported that the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) has funded 25 technology commercialization programs of state universities and colleges (SUC) amounting to P15.35 million in the past three years. Defensor revealed this in the recently concluded First National Conference on IP and Technology Commercialization at the Renaissance Makati City Hotel organized by the commission and the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IP Philippines). She shared the successful programs of Mariano Marcos State University and Tarlac College of Agriculture to the close to 200 conference delegates.

The ‘Technology Commercialization for Sustainable Development in the Rainfed Areas of Ilocos’ of Mariano Marcos State University provided dissemination of technologies and products of research through the commercialization projects of its graduates. “To-date, thirty graduates have participated in the program reaching 10 municipalities of Ilocos Norte,” Defensor said.

“The Tarlac College of Agriculture, on the other hand, has developed several technologies in-campus for its ‘Intensified Dryland Crop Production and Marketing Scheme as an Economic Support to Farmers’,” Defensor continued. “This has benefited farmers in the adjoining communities since these are showcased as demonstration farms. The projects are registered in the business office of the college for commercialization,” she added.  
 
CHED, in partnership with IP Philippines, issued a memorandum directing all SUC and private higher education institutions (HEI) to develop policy guidelines on intellectual property. Defensor said that a number of SUC already complied with the IP policy formulation approved by the governing boards to the commission on July 31, 2008. 

For his part, Atty. Adrian S. Cristobal, Jr., Director General of IP Philippines, added that universities and research and development institutions (RDI) must start developing and implementing IP policies within their communities to lay down the rules of ownership, rights and obligations, that will guide innovators. “Only when these rules are clarified, will commerce participate in technological innovation and commercialization,” Cristobal said.

Universities and RDI forms part of the eight sectors identified in the Philippine Intellectual Property Policy Strategy (PIPPS) launched last year during the National Innovation Summit led by the Department of Science and Technology (DoST). IP Philippines spearheaded the creation of the policy strategy in consultation with IP stakeholders. “In the policy strategy, the office will assist in crafting IP policies and setting up technology licensing offices (TLO) in public and private universities,” Cristobal said.

He added, “We will likewise provide technical support on IP, formulate policies and help create legislation to address the needs of this sector, promote IP courses in cooperation with CHED and the Department of Education (DepEd), and provide capacity-building programs.” Some of the capacity-building programs include performing patent search, patent claims drafting and commercialization of technology.