Gov’t IP rights body opens 16th office

MANILA  -The Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL) recently opened a new satellite office in Mindoro, expanding the number of its branches to 16 as it aims to increase intellectual property (IP) registrations by a tenth this year.

The IPOPHL on Thursday said its new office at the Department of Trade and Industry’s (DTI) Oriental Mindoro Provincial Office in Calapan City was opened last Aug 30 in a bid to provide accessible IP services in the region.

“While Mimaropa is well-known for its abundant agricultural produce, bountiful forests and beautiful beaches, its micro, small and medium enterprises are also unlocking the region’s potential through the products they bring to the market,” IPOPHL Director General Rowel Barba said in a statement.

The IPOPHL noted that the Mimaropa region—which is composed of the province of Mindoro Oriental and Occidental, Marinduque, Romblon and Palawan—achieved an economic growth rate of 8.6 percent in 2018.

This growth recorded before the pandemic marked the highest growth rate achieved by the region over the last decade, added the IPOPHL.

The region is also home to 7,426 businesses registered in the regional office and 9,026 DTI-assisted micro, small and medium enterprises as of 2022, it said further.

The IPOPHL is targeting a 10-percent increase in IP registrations this year after a record year in 2022.
The number of IP applications in the Philippines grew an annual 3.7 percent in 2022, registering a record-high of more than 48,000 filings as numbers exceeded prepandemic levels. INQ