Due to the continuous application of innovative works produced by students of colleges and universities, as well as the heightened awareness and innovation drive of the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines, filings in intellectual property jumped by 2.5 percent last 2023.

The IPOPHL on Monday reported that applications of trademarks, patents, utility models, and industrial designs from January to December last year totaled 49,832 from 48,600 in 2022.

IPOPHL Director General Rowel S. Barba said the IPOPHL conducted nearly 500 seminars and activities on IP in 2023, capacitating more than 30,000 individuals nationwide.

“We are ecstatic that our activities for building up IP management and protection capacities and intensifying awareness continue to gather more people. And as we have seen how IP topics in the past year spread far and wide in the public discourse and the online sphere, the importance of creating an IP-conscious Philippines through education and awareness programs cannot be stressed enough,” Barba said.

He added that the improved Innovation and Technology Support Program, which capacitates state universities and colleges, and higher education institutions to readily extend patent service support to researchers, inventors, and innovators on their campuses — has helped boost IP applications.

Filings from the Innovation and Technology Support Offices totaled 1,922 in 2023, a remarkable 51 percent increase from 2022.

Barba hopes to sustain the momentum in IP applications this year on the back of IPOPHL’s continuous expansion of awareness activities, engagement with more ITSOs, and its aggressive efforts in the past few years to set up more IP Satellite Offices and Help Desks in strategic areas outside Metro Manila.

IPSOs provide accessible IP services in the countryside while Help Desks act as extended arms of IPSOs with a more targeted audience.

From 2020 to 2023, IPOPHL has added two IPSO offices — namely CALABARZON and MIMAROPA, bringing the total IPSOs to 16 — and 22 Help Desks.

“We hope to see more areas realize the importance of IP assets not just in pushing their ranks in the Cities and Municipalities Competitiveness Index (CMCI) but also in fueling their residents’ creativity and innovativeness which their very own communities could benefit from,” Barba said.

Trademarks

The report further said that trademark applications edged up by 1.2 percent to 41,953 from 41,452.

Resident filings, which accounted for 61 percent, rose by 1% to 25,575, while non-resident filings grew 7 percent.

Per industry, pharmaceuticals, health, and cosmetics took up the lion’s share of 19.1 percent or 12,623 filings.

Agricultural products and services, with 11,510 (17.4% share); scientific research, information and communication technology, with 9,139 (13.8%); management, communications, real estate and financial services, with 7,474 (11.3%); textiles in clothing and accessories, with 6,794 (10.3%), capped the top five classes for 2023 trademark applications.

Patents

Meanwhile, applications for a patent grant expanded by 2.9 percent to 4,544 from 4,418. Non-resident applications, which accounted for 84 percent, dropped by 7 percent annually. However, resident applications helped boost overall invention applications after booking a 46 percent rise.

Pharmaceuticals, with 2,600 applications or a 24.8 percent share, topped the fields of technology applied for last year. Trailing behind were organic fine chemistry which totaled 1,046 (10.0% share); biotechnology, 803 (7.7 percent); digital communication, 786 (7.5 percent); and basic materials chemistry, 763 (7.3 percent).

Across the board, UM registered the highest annual growth rate at 24%, after climbing to 1,847 applications from 1,489 in 2022. Resident filings, which accounted for 95%, jumped by 23%. Non-resident filings also grew by 37%.

Industrial Design

In the field of industrial design, applications went up by 19.9% to 1,488 from 1,241, buoyed by residents which increased by 49 percent to take a 56.1 percent share in total ID filings. Non-resident filings, meanwhile, fell by 4 percent.

To recall, the IPOPHL earlier reported that copyright deposits soared to 76% to 6,522 from 3,706, marking a historic high.

The top types of copyrighted works registered at IPOPHL for records were books, pamphlets, articles, e-books, audiobooks, comics, novels, and other writings, with 3,432 or a 52.6 percent share. This was followed by audiovisual works and cinematographic works, totaling 1,181 (18.1 percent share); computer programs, software, games, and applications, 573 (8.8 percent); musical compositions, 398 (6.1 percent); drawings, paintings, architectural works, sculpture, engraving, prints, lithography or other works of art, models or designs for works of art, 318 (4.9 percent).