The Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL) said its aggressive efforts to mainstream intellectual property (IP) rights in the country has yielded increased IP filings and copyright registrations for the first quarter of the year.
IPOPHL Director General Rowel Barba reported, in his presentation at the Gawad Yamang Isip Awards, that intellectual property (IP) filings inched up by 2.5 percent to 49,832 from January to March this year compared to 48,600 in last year's first quarter.
Total filings of trademarks, patents, utility models, and industrial designs bumped up by three percent, while copyright registrations for the quarter rose by seven percent from 1,279 in 2023 to 1,367 in 2024.
"The increase in filings can be attributed to IPOPHL's aggressive push to increase IP awareness, as well as capacity building activities and heightened drive at universities and colleges to protect their IPs," said Barba.
"For the latter, we can cite the improvements to our Innovation and Technology Support Office Program, which capacitates academic and research institutions that extend patent service support to researchers, inventors, and innovators," he added.
According to data sent by IPOPHL, the rise in copyright registrations were carried mostly by the 47 percent growth in filings month-on-month in January to 541 this year from 367 in 2023.
An over 20 percent drop in registrations in February alone this year to 339 from 429 last year was seen, with only a single percent uptick in March from 483 to 487.
Copyright deposits surged by 76 percent to 6,522 in 2023.
Trademarks were up by 1.2 percent at 41,953, patents increased by two percent to 4,544, utility models grew by 24 percent to 1,841, and industrial design also rose byy nearly 20 percent to 1,486.
Through IPOPHL's Innovation and Technology Support Office (ITSO), which currently has 87 members, the agency recorded a 47.6 percent rise in IP filings in 2023 versus 2022.