IPOPHL Chief Barba reported on the Philippine’s progress on innovation at the 63rd WIPO General Assembly.
About 77 Innovation and Technology Support Offices (ITSOS) in the county have commercialized their intellectual property protected assets, reported the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL).
IPOPHL Director General Rowel S. Barba spoke about the Philippine’s experience in using intellectual property as a tool to create a more progressive future through innovation, especially since there have been economic issues brought by the pandemic.
Barba reported at the recent 63rd World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) General Assembly that 77 ITSOs established by the IPOPHL have successfully commercialized half of their IP assets.
“Innovation is more than just a new idea, method or device. It’s about providing relevant and practical solutions to address the challenges faced by our society today,” Barba said at the side event organized by the WIPO Secretariat and the French Patent and Trademark Office.
The 77 ITSOs consists of academic, research and development, and support institutions that assisted in creating the intellectual property within the academe and research sectors, while also extending technical assistance to inventors and entrepreneurs.
To empower startups, IPOPHL has been working with the Asian Institute of Management’s Dado Banatao Incubator (AIM-DBI) Program to assist in those startups when drafting patent claims.
“Our innovation strategy also taps into the talent and ingenuity of the youth,” Barba noted, unveiling IPOPHL’s plan to launch the Youth Inventors’, Designers’ and Entrepreneurs’ Incentive Package Program in the future. The future program aims to inspire and encourage the youth to create, innovate, protect, and commercialize their creations through the IP system.
Barba also reported that the country continues to boost its innovation efforts through a whole-of-government approach. This has been most evident in the passage of the Philippine Innovation Act of 2019 with its drafting legislators and signing by President Rodrigo R. Duterte. The law aims to guide the country’s innovation to develop, promote, and strengthen the innovate and entrepreneurial ecosystem and culture in the country.
“When they drafted the Philippine Innovation Act, they included IPOPHL in the roster of government agencies comprising the National Innovation Council. This Council is tasked under the law to draft the Philippines’ long-term innovation agenda,” he added.
Barba emphasized that based on the country’s needs and development level, the key element in guiding the innovation progress is the concept of “Filipinnovation,” or the Filipinos' ingenuity in creating new value, a whole of nation call and commitment to pursue country's progress through innovation
The General Assembly is an annual event that assembles WIPO’s 193 member-states to provide updates on their individual progress and together build cooperation toward future policy directions.
Tags: #WIPO, #IPOPHL, #ITSOS, #Innovation