Thirty-two researchers and technology transfer officers (TTOs) from 13 public and private higher education institutions (HEIs) have filed patent applications online. This was accomplished after a five-day training on patent drafting course and mentoring sessions held at the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST-PCAARRD) Innovation and Technology Center (DPITC), Los Baños, Laguna.
The training was organized by DOST-PCAARRD with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL), and the Association of PAQE Professionals, Inc. (APP).
The training produced 22 patent applications, which were filed through the online filing system of IPOPHL. The inventions cover varied fields related to health and medicine, food, crop production, furniture, and information technology, among other fields.
The participants were given lectures and hands-on exercises on patent search, invention spotting, specifications preparation, and claims drafting. They also learned from the actual experiences on patent filing and prosecution of the resource persons.
Atty. Andrew Michael Ong, Regional Director for Asia and the Pacific of WIPO, gave the closing remarks via video conference from the WIPO Headquarters in Switzerland. In his message, Atty. Ong said that it was the first time that patent applications were filed online immediately after the training and that WIPO plans to hold similar trainings locally and in other member countries. He also announced that WIPO plans to provide technical assistance to commercialize the filed inventions.
The training was also the first WIPO-organized capability building initiative that tapped local speakers and trainers. Speakers included Dr. Jonathan Salvacion of Mapua University; Caezar Angelito Arceo of DOST-Technology Application and Promotion Institute (DOST-TAPI); Atty. Jerry Serapion of the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice); and Noel Catibog of the Technology Transfer and Promotion Division (TTPD) of DOST-PCAARRD. All the speakers and training facilitators are certified patent agents and active members of APP.
The training course was part of the Enabling Intellectual Property (IP) Environment Project (EIPE) of WIPO. The 13 participating HEIs, which included 10 state universities and colleges and three private universities, are members of the IPOPHL network of innovation and technology support offices in the country.