The Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL) jumps to 9th place in the World Trademark Review’s (WTR) 2021 IP (intellectual property) Office Innovation Ranking from 24th in the previous year, making the Philippines the only developing country to have an IP office in the top 10 out of 60 offices ranked worldwide.
IPOPHL made what the WTR dubbed “an impressive rise,” which also put it ahead of the IP offices of Japan and the United States.
The office enjoys its current spot along with Spain and Switzerland.
“The good news delivered by the WTR report demonstrates IPOPHL’s adoption of innovations to cope with the pandemic and ensure we can continue to serve the public,” said Rowel Barba, IPOPHL director-general.
At the start of the local community quarantine, IPOPHL put in place the tools and protocols that allowed services online such as end-to-end registration, mediation, filing of IP violation complaints and other office actions.
IPOPHL also launched its Business Intelligence v2.0 online platform, which incorporates machine learning / artificial intelligence to improve its big data analytics capabilities.
Aside from its thrust towards digitalization, IPOPHL has also been assisting micro, small and medium enterprises, with the launch of its Juan for the World trademark incentive package and the renewal of the Juana Make a Mark and the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) Filing Assistance Program last year.
IPOPHL has also been recognized by the World Intellectual Property Organization for its performance as one of only 24 International Searching Authority and International Preliminary Examining Authority in the world. – Irma Isip
