MANAGEMENT of intellectual property rights (IPRs) by small and medium enterprises (SMEs) will be the main focus of the discussion during a seminar to be conducted by the regional office of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and the Intellectual Property (IP) Philippines on November 20 and 21 at the Waterfront Insular Hotel.

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The seminar, dubbed as the Seminar on the Strategic Management of IPRs by SMEs, will highlight five themes which include IPR and Business Competitiveness, Relevent IPRs for Business, the Strategies to Exploit and Profit from IPRs, The Use of Patent Databases, and Consequences of IPR Ignorance.

DTI-Southern Mindanao said the first theme is an introduction to the strategic use of IPR by SMEs to improve business productivity, profitability and competitiveness, while the second theme is an introduction to different IPRs such as patents, utility models and industrial designs, trademarks, copyright, and trade secrets.

The third theme will be a discussion on having an IP strategy that is aligned with business interest, integrating IPR into everyday work, management of IP assets to contribute to business competitiveness, including the importance of IP in exporting, while the fourth theme is a discussion on how to make use of the patent system to access technologies and to make decisions on research and development.

The fifth theme will include topics on infringement, special situations that are non-infringing, litigation, and invalidation and opposition.

DTI said that during the first day of the seminar, the IP Philippines Satellite Office in Davao City will be launched at the DTI-Southern Mindanao building in Monteverde Street, Davao City.

The highlight of the launching will be the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the IP Philippines director general, IP Philippine partners, and the DTI-Southern Mindanao. (JGRS)

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(November 19, 2008 issue)
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