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Wednesday, June 14, 2006
IPO launches website for online filing of trademark registration
To encourage more organizations to apply for intellectual property protection for marks or signs for their products, the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) led the creation of an online trademark registration system.
The IPO, in a joint project with Ong Bagay-Villamor Fabiosa Law Firm, launched last week TM Online (http://trademarks.ipophil.gov.ph/tmonline), a trademark electronic filing system that makes it easier for organizations, particularly those outside Manila, to register marks and avail themselves of intellectual property right protection policies.
The Web page allows the applicant to obtain a list of requirements and determine fees needed to process the registration.
Cut cost
“This will cut the cost of registration,” said IPO Director General Adrian Cristobal Jr., adding that since the application can be accomplished online, applicants no longer have to incur the cost of going to Manila.
He said those who do not have access to a computer with an Internet connection can go to the Department of Trade and Industry Cebu Provincial Office, which offered to provide assistance to trademark registration applicants.
Cristobal admitted, though, that some organizations or individuals may not be keen about applying online or are not “tech-savvy.”
For them, he said, the IPO is planning to establish satellite offices in Cebu and Davao.
“The satellite offices can handle inquiries and accept applications,” he said in an interview last Friday, following a seminar on intellectual property and economic development held at the Cebu Midtown Hotel.
He said the IPO is discussing with the DTI details on the establishment of a Cebu satellite office. He added that the IPO hopes to have the Cebu office operational within the year.
He said IPO considers Cebu among the priority areas for raising awareness on intellectual property policies because of the growing information technology and furniture industries.
Cristobal said awareness on intellectual property is growing, although there is need to conduct further information dissemination on the issue.
Intellectual property (IP), according to Cristobal’s presentation during the seminar, is “any creation or product of human mind.”
IP right protection may be in the form of patents (for inventions and utility models), industrial designs, trademarks and service marks, layout designs of integrated circuits, protection of undisclosed information (commonly known as trade secret) and copyright.
Tool
He said IP is considered a tool for economic growth, not only as source of revenue from patent licensing—which, in the United States, is valued between $5 trillion and $5.5 trillion in 2005—but as assurance for investors.
He said the IPO recorded a 68-percent increase in trademark applications and a 51-percent increase in the number of patent applications between 1998 and 2005.
He said most of these applications are in the IT and telecommunications industries, semiconductor and electronics, garments, creative sector design, traditional knowledge and genetic resources and geographical indications (referring to marks used for products coming from a certain locality). (LAP)
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (June 14, 2006 issue)
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