Intellectual property filings in the Philippines reached 25,263 in the first half of the year and are seen to continue to grow the rest of the year.
Rowel Barba, director-general of the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL), in a speech read by director Jesus Antonio Ros at the first Philippine Trademark Conference (TMCon) in Taguig City yesterday, expressed confidence the agency will surpass last year’s IP filings of 49,832.
Of the first half IP filings, trademark filings accounted for 86 percent at 21,751, or 7 percent higher than the 20,394 in the same period in 2023.
Barba said in 2023, trademark applications amounted to 41,953, or 84.2 percent of the overall IP filings of 49,832 “Trademark that protects the signs that distinguish your products and services from your competitors–including ensuring the exclusivity of your brand,” Barba said.
“Trademarks comprise the bulk of IP filings over the years. This trend was also consistent even with the pandemic-instigated wait-and-see attitude that led to a decrease of IP filings in 2020. More importantly, trademark applications had bounced back by 2021 and surpassed the pre-pandemic level by 2022, underlining our economy’s recovery from this period,” Barba said.
Internationally and locally, trademarks comprise the bulk of IP filings over the years, he added.
Barba cited the World Intellectual Property Organization which reported that trademark applications by class count in 2022 reached 15.5 million or 66 percent of total IP applications of 23.5 million. While this was a decrease by 14.5 percent from 18.2 million in 2021, WIPO noted this was more a return to normal following the surge in 2020 and 2021 when the COVID-19 pandemic was in full swing.
Barba said the overall trend is still one of growth with over 1.5 times more applications filed in 2022 than in 2012.
But the IPOPHL said with the surge in trademark applications comes the increasing need for stringent measures against counterfeiting and infringement, particularly with the expansion of e-commerce and online marketing platforms.
At the TMCon, IPOPHL ceremoniously launched and demonstrated the new electronic filing system for Madrid applications and unveiled the Revised Madrid Regulations.
The Madrid e-Filing system is a cutting-edge online platform designed by the WIPO to streamline the filing of international trademark applications under the Madrid System.
“The Madrid e-Filing system offers significant benefits to the Philippines and its stakeholders, including a simplified application process that reduces complexity and costs, enhanced global reach allowing businesses to protect trademarks in multiple countries with one application, support for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to expand internationally through a user-friendly interface and integration with IPOPHL to harmonize with global standards,” said Barba.
