IPOPHL inks cooperation pact with US counterpart

The Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL) has signed an agreement with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) to facilitate the exchange of information and technology that can be used to enhance the protection of IP rights and enforcement of IP laws in both countries.

In a statement issued Thursday, IPOPHL related that the agreement served as a “mutual cooperation mechanism’’ between the two countries, which would enable them to exchange information and best practices in IP office administration, capacity building, patent and trademark examination, and IP rights protection and enforcement.

The agreement would pave the way for the conduct of training and workshops for lawyers, prosecutors, enforcement officers, and members of the judiciary.

The majority of IP violation cases in the country ended up settled amicably due to the tedious legal process here. IPOPHL had drafted special rules for IP cases, which aimed to fact-track the resolution of such cases. These rules, two years after being drafted, had yet to be approved by the Supreme Court.

The IPOPHL-USPTO agreement likewise aimed to promote the holding of benchmarking activities and the sharing of best practices in the areas of quality assurance, examination process, and review guidelines for trademark and patent examiners.

The pact would also grant both offices access to patent information, as well as enable knowledge sharing and technology transfer, particularly between both countries’ universities and government research centers.

It also had an outreach and education component that would teach small and medium enterprises how to protect and enforce their intellectual assets in the form of patents, trade secrets, trademarks and copyrights.

Aside from the USPTO, IPOPHL also has bilateral agreements with the European Patent Office, the World Intellectual Property Organization, and other IP entities.

These agreements helped IPOPHL in its office modernization and automation efforts, which shortened and simplified the registration processes for trademarks, designs and patents.

The bilateral deals also gave local researchers and scientists in schools and universities here greater access to knowledge and scientific information.