Intellectual Property (IP) filings in 2023 rose by 2.5 percent to 49,832, owing to the increased IP awareness, capacity-building activities and heightened drive at universities and colleges to create and protect their IPs, according to the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL).
In a statement Monday, IPOPHL said applications of trademarks, patents, utility models (UM) and industrial designs (ID) from January to December 2023 reached 49,832, up 2.5 percent from 48,600 in 2022.
IPOPHL Director General Rowel S. Barba attributed the climb in filings to the “aggressive” IP awareness and capacity-building activities and heightened drive at universities and colleges to create and protect their IPs.
The IPOPHL chief said the agency conducted nearly 500 seminars and activities on IP in 2023 with 30,000 participants nationwide.
“As we have seen how IP topics in the past year spread far and wide in the public discourse and the online sphere, the importance of creating an IP-conscious Philippines through education and awareness programs cannot be stressed enough,” Barba said.
Trademarks
According to IPOPHL, trademark applications inched up by 1.2 percent to 41,953 from 41,452. Resident filings, which it said accounted for 61 percent, rose by 1 percent to 25,575. Non-resident filings meanwhile grew 7 percent.
In terms of industry, pharmaceuticals, health and cosmetics, agricultural products and services, scientific research, information and communication technology, management, communications, real estate and financial services, and textiles in clothing and accessories were the top five classes for 2023 trademark applications, IPOPHL noted.
Per industry, pharmaceuticals, health and cosmetics took up the lion’s share of 19.1 percent or 12,623 filings. Agricultural products and services, with 11,510 (17.4 percent share); scientific research, information and communication technology, with 9,139 (13.8 percent share); management, communications, real estate and financial services, with 7,474 (11.3 percent); textiles in clothing and accessories, with 6,794 (10.3 percent).
Patents
Applications for a patent grant, meanwhile, expanded by 2.9 percent to 4,544 from 4,418. Non-resident applications, which accounted for 84 percent, dropped by 7 percent annually. However, IPOPHL noted resident applications helped boost overall invention applications after booking a 46 percent increase.
“Pharmaceuticals, with 2,600 applications or a 24.8 percent share, topped the fields of technology applied for last year. Trailing behind were organic fine chemistry which totaled 1,046 [10 percent share]; biotechnology, 803 [7.7 percent]; digital communication, 786 [7.5 percent]; and basic materials chemistry, 763 [7.3 percent],” IPOHL noted.
Utility models
According to IPOPHL, utility models (UM) registered the highest annual growth rate across the board at 24 percent after climbing to 1,847 applications from 1,489 in 2022. Resident filings, which accounted for 95 percent, jumped by 23 percent. Non-resident filings also grew by 37 percent, it said.
“Bulk or 55.9 percent of UM filings were concentrated on food chemistry, which saw 659 applications. Basic materials chemistry, with 78 applications [6.6 percent share]; organic fine chemistry, with 64 [5.4 percent]; pharmaceuticals, with 46 [3.9 percent]; and other special machines, with 41 [3.5 percent] followed,” IPOPHL said.
Industrial Design or ID
Meanwhile, the agency said ID applications went up by 19.9 percent to 1,488 from 1,241, driven by residents, which increased by 49 percent to take a 56.1 percent share in total ID filings. Non-resident filings, meanwhile, fell by 4 percent.
“The top ID applications were intended for means of transport or hoisting, with 152 applications [14.0 percent share]; packages and containers for the transport or handling of goods, with 118 [10.8 percent]; recording, communication or information retrieval equipment, with 84 [7.7 percent]; furnishing, with 83 [7.6 percent]; and articles of clothing and haberdashery, with 72 [6.6 percent],” IPOPHL noted.
Earlier, IPOPHL divulged that copyright deposits soared by 76 percent to 6,522 from 3,706.
The top type of copyrighted works registered at IPOPHL for recordal were books, pamphlets, articles, e-books, audio books, comics, novels, and other writings, with 3,432 or a 52.6 percent share.
IPOPHL said this was followed by audiovisual works and cinematographic works, totaling 1,181 (18.1 percent share); computer programs, software, games, applications, 573 (8.8 percent); musical compositions, 398 (6.1 percent); drawings, paintings, architectural works, sculpture, engraving, prints, lithography or other works of art, models or designs for works of art, 318 (4.9 percent).
Barba further noted that the improved Innovation and Technology Support Program—which enables state universities and colleges (SUC) and higher education institutions (HEI) to readily extend patent service support to researchers, inventors and innovators in their campuses—has helped boost IP applications.
Filings from the Innovation and Technology Support Offices (ITSO) reached 1,922 in 2023, a 51 percent increase from 2022, the IPOPHL chief noted.