An invention patent is a government-issued grant, bestowing an exclusive right to an inventor over a product or process that provides any technical solution to a problem in any field of human activity which is new, inventive, and industrially applicable.
IPOPHL is now an International Searching Authority and International Preliminary Examining Authority (ISA/IPEA), enabling it to conduct search and preliminary examination of international applications filed under the Patent Cooperation Treaty.
Recognizing the role of the patent system as a driver to further research and innovation, IPOPHL hopes to encourage more Filipino inventors to seek international protection of their inventions, considering the fee waiver program and the office’s upgrading of competence and expertise. Apply now!
A patent is an exclusive right that allows the inventor to exclude others from making, using, or selling the product of his invention during the life of the patent. Patent owners may also give permission to, or license, other parties to use their inventions on mutually agreed terms. Owners may also sell their invention rights to someone else, who then becomes the new owner of the patent.
The Intellectual Property Code of the Philippines sets three conditions for an invention to be deemed patentable: it has to be new, involves an inventive step, and industrially applicable.
How are these defined? In the IP Code, an invention is not considered new if it already forms part of the domain of prior art. Prior art is explained in the Intellectual Property Code of the Philippines, Chapter 2, Section 24 - 24.2
An invention involves an inventive step if, having regard to prior art, it is not obvious to a person skilled in the art at the time of the filing date or priority date of the application claiming the invention. An invention that can be produced and used in any industry is considered industrially applicable.
The term of a patent shall be twenty (20) years from the filing date of the application. The patent must be maintained yearly, starting from the 5th year.
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