IP institute marks one year, rolls out programs
20 June 2008, Makati City – |
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The Institute, established by the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IP Philippines), presented its training programs for the Enhancement of IP Practice (Enhance IP) and Management of IP (Manage IP) to Commissioner Nenalyn P. Defensor of the Commission on Higher Education (CHED), and Assistant Secretary Carol Yorobe of the Department of Science and Technology (DoST).
“IPRTI will help our universities, research and development institutions (RDI), businesses and law enforcers protect and manage effectively our country’s valuable IP assets. The Institute, a critical component of the Philippine IP Policy Strategy, will be the center of IP education in the country and, hopefully, in the Asia Pacific region,” Atty. Adrian S. Cristobal, Jr., Director General of IP Philippines, said.
Dr. Celia Aurora T. Torres-Villanueva, Executive Director of IPRTI, said that after just one year of operations, IPRTI has established strategic relationships with the Worldwide IP Academy of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and is a member of the international network of IP academies.
According to Torres-Villanueva, the Institute has trained “close to 200 scientists, researchers, lawyers, business executives and patent examiners 13 of which were from five ASEAN countries.” IPRTI programs, she added, “are designed to train our constituents on how to maximize commercial benefits from their innovations and raise the standards of patent practice in the country.”
IPRTI also conferred a total of 47 Certificates of Recognition to the 2006 and 2007 Patent Agent Qualifying Examination (PAQE) participants. The examination, jointly administered by IP Philippines and the European Patent Office (EPO) under their bilateral cooperation agreement, improves the quality of patent drafting and practice in the country. After intensive training and passing the technical examinations, participants are considered highly qualified in drafting patent claims, thus, able to serve effectively inventors and scientists seeking patent protection.
Torres-Villanueva joined the Institute in September 2007. She has a doctorate degree in Molecular Genetics and Microbiology from the University of Massachusetts and a law degree (admitted to the Bar) from the University of the Philippines. She had previously held the post of Associate Dean of the College of Science, UP Diliman, and later became the university’s Vice Chancellor for Research and Development, before joining the Institute.
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