ZAMBOANGA CITY — The Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL) on Friday opened its satellite office here, the agency’s fourth office in Mindanao and the 13th in the country.
IPOPHL Director General Josephine Santiago said the Intellectual Property Satellite Office (IPSO) aims to expand its presence and reach more businesses and individuals in the region who are keen to register their intellectual property.
“We have opened this fourth satellite office in the region because we have seen that the area is so promising, particularly in the service of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) and other products and services,” Santiago said in a press conference.
Santiago said they have seen micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) increasingly becoming responsive to the call to protect their trademarks, and gain a competitive edge in businesses.
“Gradually, they’ve been recognizing the significance and value trademark brings them in the cutthroat environment in the marketplace,” she said.
“This growing awareness explains the multi-year growth in intellectual property filings from satellite offices. IPSO filings have been on a growth path since 2013. With our continued expansion in the farthest areas of the Philippines, we expect this trajectory to remain on an uptrend,” Santiago added.
She said the IPOPHL saw an average annual growth of 14 percent in IP filings outside Metro Manila from 2013 to 2017, based on data from the Intellectual Property Field Operations Unit of the agency.
Trademark applications have consistently taken up the bulk of the filings in the same period, she added.
Last year, Santiago said it took up 60 percent of all IP filings from the 11 satellite offices, boosted by IPOPHL’s “Juana Make a Mark program.”
Santiago said that in Mindanao, the top three goods that MSMEs have applied for trademarks were local pastries, delicacies, coffee, tea and sugar; local food outlets and kiosks; and processed food from fruits and vegetables indigenous to the areas.
Dr. Sitti Amina Jain, Department of Trade and Industry 9 (Zamboanga) director, said 19 trademark applications were submitted this year to the IPOPHL through her office. Of the 19, nine trademark applications submitted by MSMEs have been approved.
Santiago said the “Juana Make a Mark” program is a trademark registration incentive program that allows the first 1,000 eligible MSMEs to apply to have their trademarks registered at a reduced cost.
She said trademarks are expected to lead the growth of IP filings, and more MSMEs, especially in newly-opened satellite offices may benefit from the incentive program. (Teofilo Garcia, Jr/PNA)
