FOCUS ON DIGITAL ECONOMY: IPOPHL celebrates National Intellectual Property Month 2022

In 2022, the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL) is leading the celebration of the National Intellectual Property (IP) Month (NIPM) as the Office aims to highlight the importance of strengthening policies and holistic efforts to protect intellectual property (IP) in maximizing the benefits of the digital economy.

The celebration comes as the country takes on heavy lifting work to speed up its economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic’s economic shocks.

Amid this upheaval, the digital economy has presented hope by enabling business continuity, distance learning and work-from-home arrangements amid limited face-to-face interactions. Borderless trade opportunities are also made more accessible to MSMEs.

At IPOPHL alone, the adoption of technologies and digital tools proved imperative in furthering the wheels of innovation, creativity and entrepreneurship in the country, especially during lockdowns.

While it creates a better normal, the digital ecosystem also has its set of challenges, including on IP rights holders. In 2021, IPOPHL received new record-high reports and complaints in counterfeiting and piracy with 90% of alleged violations found online.

Director General Rowel S. Barba said issues in the digital economy need to be addressed urgently and the NIPM 2022 celebration, with a focus on the role of strong IP protection in the digital economy, demonstrates this need.

Strong IP protection, a pillar of trust

“While IPOPHL has improved significantly in improving IP protection, going so far as gaining recognition from the international community and moving upward in world rankings, we need to sustain conversations with fellow regulators, stakeholders and the larger public to determine how best to protect IP in the digital economy. Through these dialogues, we can provide actionable insights to foster innovation, creativity, and entrepreneurship in this borderless space,” Barba said.

“We must ensure that a balanced and robust IP system is at the foundation of interactions and transactions within the digital economy. From this, we can capture economic, social, innovative, and cultural benefits derived from our IP assets for use in the recovery of the country,” he added.

Strengthening IP protection online is part of the key actions of the recently released E-commerce Philippines 2022 Roadmap, which aims to harness the digital economy’s opportunities for value creation. It is also a key recommendation in the World Bank Group’s Philippines Digital Economy Report 2020 for building trust online.

A daily celebration

IPOPHL will be conducting daily events throughout April to fulfill the goals of IP Month 2022.

On April 4, IPOPHL will be unveiling its Legacy Wall to recall former Director Generals and their various milestones, including the Office’s digital transformation, that have helped the agency evolve into its current innovative and development-oriented status in 25 years.

For social media content creators, IPOPHL’s IP Academy will be holding a learning event on April 7 to help users understand how to best protect their unique content and respect those of others in order to avoid content takedowns or even legal disputes.

And with the digital economy creating a rise in IP cases, IPOPHL’s Bureau of Legal Affairs (BLA) will conduct on April 11 a Stakeholders Forum to discuss its suite of alternative dispute resolution services and how these can help rights holders resolve issues efficiently and at a minimum cost.

For its part, the IP Rights Enforcement Office (IEO), in coordination with foreign IP offices, will be holding workshops to boost the capacity of the IPOPHL-led National Committee on IP Rights in curbing counterfeiting and piracy which have spurred online over the years.

The Bureau of Trademarks (BOT), Bureau of Patents (BOP) and Bureau of Copyright and Related Rights (BCRR) will also be providing a weekly IP consultation to the public for free.

Further information on IPOPHL’s April events and activities can be found on the National IP Month 2022 webpage.

Empowering the youth for a better digital future

Meanwhile, in line with the World Intellectual Property Organization’s World IP Day celebration themed “IP and Youth: Innovating for a Better Future IP,” the Documentation, Information, Technology Transfer Bureau (DITTB) will launch on April 8 the Young IP Advocates (YIPA) Trek IP. The event brings together members of IPOPHL’s YIPA Program to help them explore the stages of the IP cycle by creating an IP product.

IPOPHL will also be holding on April 22 its much awaited IP Grand Forum, an annual event that gathers high-level guests, industry experts, IP rights holders and the general public to hear of the Director General’s report on the present State of IP in the Philippines. Converging with WIPO’s focus on the youth, the 2nd IP Grand Forum is themed “IP and Youth: Innovating for a Better Future” to highlight IPOPHL’s initiatives in empowering the youth to lead the future innovation and creativity landscapes.

The IP Month is also a major event in IPOPHL’s year-long celebration for its 25 years as an Office. Themed “Creating a Silver Bright Year,” its silver anniversary celebration aims to accelerate the country’s economic recovery through IP.

The IP Month is celebrated every April pursuant to Presidential Proclamation No. 190 signed by President Rodrigo Duterte in 2017. The celebration aims to raise appreciation for the benefits patents, copyright and related rights, trademarks and designs bring to our daily lives and to celebrate the contribution of creativity and innovation to the development of societies across the world.

IPOPHL leads the country’s annual celebration with support from its partners in government, the private sector, academe, media and other sectors.