The Technology Application and Promotion Institute (TAPI) and the Association of PAQE Professionals (APP) signed an agreement to further protect Filipino inventors and their patents.
The signing of the memorandum of agreement is expected to bring in the expertise of APP members to assist TAPI in drafting and prosecuting patent applications from intellectual property disclosures of Filipino inventors vetted by the Department of Science and Technology (DOST).
Under the agreement, APP members will serve as patent agents of the inventors who availed of DOST?s inventor assistance program under Republic Act No. 7459 (RA 7459), otherwise known as the ?Inventors and Invention Incentives Act of the Philippines.?
TAPI is an agency that provides financial support to Filipino inventors as part of a complete package of intellectual property rights assistance from preparation of specifications, filing of patent applications and prosecution thereof to the grant of letters patents for inventions, utility models or industrial designs.
APP is a professional association of patent agents who passed the Patent Agents Qualifying Examinations (PAQE) officiated by the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL).
It was organized to also disseminate knowledge on the work of its members and other matters relating to patents and to liaise with other entities regarding industrial property protection and prosecution.
According to the statistics published by the IPOPHL on its website, Filipino residents filed only 193 invention patent applications in 2013 compared to the 2,881 applications filed by non-residents.
During the same year, 1,906 letters patents were granted to non-residents while Filipinos managed to secure registration only for 7 inventions.
Attorney Bayani B. Loste, APP president and a partner at Fortun Narvasa & Salazar, is hopeful that with APP?s engagement as a clearing house for its members, the number of quality local patent filings will increase in the medium term.
With the signing of the agreement, more local inventors are also expected to take advantage of the TAPI services.