To produce more student inventors, the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines and the Manila Science High School recently inked to bring intellectual property (IP) education into their curricula.

The MOA, signed by IPOPHL Director General Rowel Barba and MaSci Principal Manolo Peña, was facilitated through MaSci's long-standing collaboration with the Documentation, Information, and Technology Transfer Bureau under the latter’s Young IP Advocates Program.

With the said agreement, both parties are mandated to work together to enhance the school’s IP policy, develop the necessary materials to integrate and mainstream IP education in the curricula, and strengthen its IP Club which was made possible by the YIPA Program.

Barba, during the signing, stressed that IPOPHL’s nine-year collaboration with MaSci is a testament to IPOPHL’s mission to sustain ties with educational institutions.

“Our partnership with MaSci demonstrates that more institutions and students are inspired to develop their strategies to protect IP rights. Our work is truly cut out for us, as more schools are gearing towards the direction of IP protection and appreciation. We simply have to continue providing the right tools to inspire the academe to protect their IPs,” Barba said.

For her part, DITTB director Ralph Jarvis Alindogan lauded Yzhae Marrione Capuno Villaruel, a student from MaSci for her appointment as one of the World Intellectual Property Organization’s Youth Ambassadors.

“Student inventors like Yzhae are a testament to the huge roles schools play in integrating an IP protection strategy into their culture of innovation,” Alindogan said.

On MaSci’s end, Peña is optimistic that the tie-up with IPOPHL will intensify the school’s capacity to cultivate the minds of young scientists, inventors, and artists in an environment that respects IP rights.

“What’s best is to revisit the IP policy of the school to diffuse IP knowledge. Now that we have gone through several conversations with IPOPHL, we believe this can encourage more students to accomplish more through IP,” Peña said.