Dr. Karl Rackette explains the topic to the participants. On the foreground (back to the camera, left) is DITTB Asst. Director Rolando B. Saquilabon. On his left is IP Philippines’ Management Information System Director Cecilio M. Fernandez.

IP professionals, researchers in IP Philippines’ workshop on patent drafting

The Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines, with the support of the European Patent Office, began on Monday the much-awaited weeklong seminar-workshop on patent drafting, whose goal is to develop professional patent agents in the country. The workshop, which is being held in Makati City, attracted a total of 50 participants who include lawyers, researchers, legal staff and some officials and employees of the IP Philippines, who are hoping to become patent agents or at least, understand the rudiments of the patent world.. Rolando B. Saquilabon, assistant director of the documentation, information and Technology transfer bureau of IP Philippines, said the agency is mindful about the lack of Filipino professionals who possess the necessary qualification or competence to deal or understand the mechanics and issues of the patent system. These problems and concerns could include on the drafting of patent applications, patent claims formulation, prior art search, patent law applications, regulations and case laws, which any patent applicant, who is not well versed on the system, could not deal on when confronted by patent examiners. Saquilabon said the quality of patents and the time for which their applications should have been processed suffers with the lack of professional patent agent practitioners.
		European patent agent Raymond Coleiro discusses an issue with a participant before the start of the seminar-workshop
		Officials and employees of the IP Philippines including Administrative, Financial and Human Resource Development Service Bureau Director Corazon Marqueses were among those attending the ongoing seminar.

Dr. Karl Rackette, one of the two expert patent agents commissioned by the EPO to deliver the seminar-workshop noted that Filipino inventors have been experiencing difficulty in finding agents or people who would represent and defend their technical inventions.

“Inventors do not know much about IP, and they it find hard to draft patent applications,” he said.

Rackette said that normally, people who specialized in IP are lawyers, but still, they do not posses the scientific knowledge that is required to draft a patent application. According to him, this is the reason why they find it hard to draft any application.

“It is easier for engineers to learn a little bit about the legal stuff than for lawyers to learn about technical aspects, he said.

Raymond Coleiro, another EPO-commissioned lecturer, said in the United Kingdom, being a patent agent is a full time job, with agents, among others, being hired to draft patent applications and defending them from oppositors, which he said, do not exist in the country.

However, he said that the situation may soon exist in the country.

Coleiro also said that for one to be a patent agent in Europe, he should be involved in the world of patent, at least for a minimum of three to four years and must pass the qualifying examination.

Andrew Michael Ong, an IP lawyer, who is attending the seminar workshop, said that the technical issue of any patent application connects with that of its legal aspect.

He said that currently, being a professional patent agent is virtually a non-existent title and job in the country.

Ong congratulated the IP Philippines for undertaking the project, which he said would develop patent agents and their world in the country with the “end-result” of Filipinos patenting their technology.