To boost the nation's low ranking in the Global Innovation Index, the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines signed a formal agreement with the Filipino Inventors Federation, Inc. This aims to create a more robust connection between IPOPHL and the country's creators and pioneers.

During the signing earlier this month, IPOPHL Director General Atty. Rowel Barba said the new partnership “underscores IPOPHL’s shared commitment in fostering innovation and supporting inventors in their journey to bring their groundbreaking ideas into fruition.”

Further, Barba said that by working closely with FILINFED, IPOPHL could address the challenges inventors face when protecting, enforcing, and commercializing their IP assets and, at the same time, improve the country’s standing in the GII where it landed 56th in 2023.

Barba said the country aims to take the 25th spot in the GII by 2040 as envisioned in the National Innovation Agenda and Strategy Document 2023-2032.

Under the MOA, IPOPHL commits to provide, among other advanced training activities, the necessary assistance to help FILINFED members have a strong foundation in the IP registration process for a smoother and faster application experience.

As an ex-officio member of the National Innovation Council, IPOPHL also commits to helping FILINFED create relevant linkages in the innovation community.

For its part, the FILINFED commits to actively participate in relevant IPOPHL-led programs and other activities to promote IP and help the country climb further in the GII. The group will also be supporting IPOPHL’s bid for designation as a competent international searching and preliminary examining authority.

Formed in 1998, FILINFED is an umbrella group composed of over 2,000 members coming from 15 inventor organizations across the country.

IPOPHL Deputy Director General Anne Claire Cabochan, for her part, said she hopes the collaboration will improve the country’s GII scores, specifically in the areas of Innovation Linkages — under Business Sophistication — and Knowledge Creation — under the Knowledge and Technology Outputs.

Meanwhile, FILINFED President Archie Melano welcomed the new alliance with IPOPHL, emphasizing that inventors need to register their works to be eligible for funding in various programs of the Department of Science and Technology and avail of other perks such as tax incentives provided by Republic Act 7549 or the Inventors and Invention Incentives Law.

“We hope next year when we meet for our annual dialogue, the majority of us in our federation are doing well in business. Our group wants to raise the quality of inventions and innovations into well-applauded Likhang Pinas (Philippine-made) technologies— products and processes that not just embody Filipino ingenuity but also use resources that protect the environment and uplift the poorest of the poor,” NIC Academe Representative Ria Liza C. Canlas.