A TOTAL of 2,149 local and foreign patents were filed under the Department of Science and Technology’s DOST 500 Project, posting a colossal 740-percent increase from 2016 to 2021, according to a researcher and scientist of DOST’s Technology Application and Promotion Institute (TAPI).
In the webinar this past week, “The Specialist: Strategic Insights on Emerging Methods on IP Valuation,” which is part of the Week-long Accomplishment and Culminating Activity of Special Projects (Wacas) of DOST-TAPI, Caezar Angelito E. Arceo said the agency had filed 921 copyrights, 756 utility models, 227 industrial designs, 116 trademarks, 92 patents, 26 under the Paris Copyright Treaty and 11 within the national phase entry.
The DOST 500 Project stands for “Support to the Commercialization of 500 DOST-Generated Technologies and Strengthening the Country’s Intellectual Property [IP] and Technology Portfolios.”
One of the two special projects implemented by the DOST-TAPI in the past five years—which was completed in June this year together with Technology Transfer Day Project—had assisted in the commercialization of technologies through the creation of an IP database management system, IP portfolios, valuations and freedom-to-operate reports.
Technology transfer, licensing agreements
ARCEO said the DOST 500 Project also provided technology transfer support and produced 313 licensing agreements and term sheets for its clients.
“These licensing agreements and term sheets were the ones that reached the fairness opinion reports, and we were able to assist them to reach [up to that stage],” he said.
The fairness term report is the third-party body by the Philippine Technology Transfer Act to render a fair opinion on every licensing agreement or technology transfer initiative to be done on a publicly funded project in the country.
Training local officials
DOST-TAPI also supported 28 training programs in various locations in the country, according to Arceo.
The agency partnered with the Swedish Patent Office to train local officials on data analysis, data gathering and preparation of reports for the freedom-to-operate, which will help in the commercialization of technologies.
Arceo said that an IP is a creation of the mind, and one of its major characteristic is that it must have global novelty.
“It must be a unique invention that can create an impact around the world,” he pointed out.
Arceo said all IPs are also tangible in form, can be documented and not imaginary.
To protect an invention from piracy, Arceo said, an inventor must seek the help of a patent agent.
IP valuation
In her opening remarks during the event, DOST Undersecretary for Research and Development Rowena Cristina L. Guevara said IP valuation is very important for inventors so they can get sufficient protection for their inventions.
“How do we benefit in IP valuation? IP can be deemed as a commodity that can be created. The ownership of the creator is assured if taken properly and it prevents illegal copying the product,” Guevara said.
Guevara pointed out that inventors must always have a dynamic mindset because technology and IP are always moving in a fast-paced manner.
The Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL), which grants patents in the country, said that inventions must possess uniqueness and can contribute to the industrial productivity of the country.
In a report published in BusinessMirror last week, IPOPHL said IP applications went down due to prolonged locked down measures in major areas in the country, including Metro Manila.