Trade Secretary Alfredo Pascual on Tuesday said that they are eyeing to amend the Intellectual Property Code of the Philippines to strengthen the country's innovation push.

“We are looking at amending our 27-year-old Intellectual Property Code (IPC) of the Philippines to address its deficiencies brought about by current and emerging legal and technological developments,” said Pascual in a Viber message to reporters.

Further, he said that the DTI’s proposed changes aim to modernize the IP framework, enhance enforcement against online piracy, and boost IP education.

“This will create a safer digital environment, foster innovation, and support economic growth while ensuring we meet international standards,” Pascual noted.

Meanwhile, Pascual, on the sidelines post-State of the Nation Address (SONA) Discussions in Pasay City on Tuesday, said he would recommend to President Marcos some amendments to the said law, but he did not give any timeline for its submission.

“To support the startups, we need a strong intellectual property law. We have an existing one and I’m going to present to the President, hopefully soon, the proposed amendments to this law so we can strengthen the enforcement of the law and the further protection of intellectual property owners against piracy and counterfeiting,” he said.

Pascual said the country needs startups to promote innovation and adoption of technology to support the progress of the economy.

He said DTI is taking the lead in promoting startups utilizing programs starting with the initial stage of startup formation.

“We have a program called Incubation, Development, and Entrepreneurship Advance (IDEA) and then we have the next program Accelerating Development, Valuation, and Corporate Entrepreneurship (ADVANCE). It's the ADVANCE stage and then the Global Acceleration Program (GAP),” he said.

Pascual said the programs will bring the startup to global access in providing market and financing.

“The areas that are being addressed now, there are more than 130 startups that we have in our list of startups that we are supporting. And they are in various fields like architecture, fintech, edutech, and other sectors of the economy,” according to the Trade chief.