IPOPHL Expressed Confidence in PH Increasing Innovation Ranks at 61st WIPO General Assembly
September 22, 2020
The Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines, at the recent 61st General Assembly of World Intellectual Property Organization Members, expressed optimism in the Philippines advancing further in the Global Innovation Rankings with its outlook pinned on recent implementation of innovation-fostering laws and the National Intellectual Property Strategy.
IPOPHL Director General Barba said at the virtual Assembly held Tuesday that the Philippine Innovation Act and the Innovation Start-Up Act has driven the Philippines to pursue innovation goals "with greater urgency and with stronger participation of various critical players of society."
"We see the Philippines climbing further in the Global Innovation Rankings in the next few years based on the transformative effects of these laws and the National IP Strategy (NIPS)," Barba said.
The NIPS 2020-2025 is a roadmap by IPOPHL, with assistance of WIPO, that was launched in December 2019.
The NIPS aims to harness intellectual property (IP) for national goals such as innovation, creativity, and knowledge generation; for entrepreneurship and competitiveness; and to achieve public policy goals such as universal access to health care, agricultural self-sufficiency, and inclusive growth.
Barba also highlighted the growing network of IPOPHL's Innovation and Technology Support Offices, composed of 100 higher-education institutions and research for development centers.
ITSOs, as hotbeds of innovation, have contributed significantly to invention and utility model filings, which in turn helped push the country’s five-rank climb in the Global Innovation Index 2020.
"IPOPHL continues to boost ITSOs' capacities in propagating innovation in their communities through the incentives of patent protection and expand our ITSO network for our services to gain wider reach and benefit more IP creators," Barba added.
IPOPHL also noted government's intensification of policy-enhancement efforts on intercepting counterfeit trade and piracy.
"On IP enforcement, we are updating our rules to keep in step with the latest trends in counterfeiting and piracy," Barba said.
"We are also pleased to inform the Assembly that the 2020 Proposed Supreme Court Rules of Procedure for Intellectual Property Rights Cases, which is in the final stage of approval as we continue to enhance administrative and judicial processes to facilitate resolution of IPR cases," the IPOPHL chief added.
The agency said that its efforts, especially of leveraging technologies for the betterment of its services, will continue to be intensified amidst the pandemic during which innovations are needed more than ever.
In recent months, IPOPHL has accomplished upgrading its services to now be capable of processing IP applications to registration through entirely online means.
In closing, IPOPHL thanked outgoing WIPO Director General Fracis Gurry for the partnership he has forged with IPOPHL throughout the 12 years he has held the term.IPOPHL also welcomed the new chapter of WIPO under the reins of incoming Director General Darren Tang and expressed confidence in his leadership to take WIPO to greater heights.### (Janina Lim, Media Relations Officer)