COMMODITIES, such as milkfish, mango, goat, crab, shrimp, banana, rice, abaca, swine, bamboo, rubber and feed resources are common in the Philippines. But to develop them, they are among the priorities in the country’s researches, which intellectual properties (IPs) have to be managed.
To intensify the management of its IPs, the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST-PCAARRD) is partnering with the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL) on a project.
Titled “Enhancing PCAARRD’s Intellectual Property Management Through Prior Art Search and Patent Landscape Assessment,” the project aims to develop strategies to strengthen the agriculture, aquatic and natural resources (AANR) research priorities in these commodities.
A total of 150 Prior Art Search reports on the PCAARRD-generated technologies and 12 Patent Landscape Reports (PLRs) are the targets of the two-year project.
Prior art search is done to determine and craft IP management plans for the ongoing PCAARRD projects. PLRs, on the other hand, will serve as reference of the agency in developing research and development (R&D) programs for funding.
To date, IPOPHL has prepared 75 prior arts search reports, while six PLRs on priority R&D commodities of mango, goat, milkfish, bamboo, banana and swine were presented during the first and second Landscape Report held in July 2017 and January 2018.
The data were gathered by the IP Search and Documentation Division of IPOPHL’s Documentation, Information and Technology Transfer Bureau.
Three additional PLRs on rubber, abaca and shrimp were presented during the third PLR Presentation held at the PCAARRD headquarters.
According to IPOPHL, as of 2017, there are 43 patent family filings for abaca technologies, 42 for rubber technologies and 16 for shrimp technologies in the Philippines.
Although patent filings on the commodities have an increasing trend, these figures are very low compared to other countries like China and the United States, which have the most number of patents filed on these commodities.
The IPOPHL emphasized that through prior art search and PLRs, the agency can assist PCAARRD on which commodities or fields of research are congested with R&D activities and which are open and waiting for potential R&D programs.
The patent information from these PLRs and prior art search reports will serve as the council’s guide to assess the novelty and value of projects being proposed for potential funding, as well as avoid research duplication. These data are deemed important to maximize funds for research initiatives in the AANR sectors.
Improving the lives of the Filipinos by providing technologies is mandated by the Republic Act 10005, or the Technology Transfer Act of 2009. This provided an additional mandate to the PCAARRD to monitor research efforts of state universities and colleges and research and development institutes.
The provision also tasked the Council to monitor the institutions in terms of securing IP protection and pursuing technology commercialization.