After almost a year of operating without a director-general, the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) now has a new chief after Malacanang announced that Pres. Benigno Aquino has appointed lawyer Josephine Rima-Santiago to the post.
Rima-Santiago, a former deputy director-general of the IPO from January 1999 to December 2002, replaced Ricardo R. Blancaflor whose term ended late last year.
The director-general has a term of five years and is eligible for reappointment.
The new IPO chief obtained her law degree from the University of the Philippines and her Master of Laws in Intellectual Property at the Universit? degli Studi di Torino in Italy.
Rima-Santiago also served as director of the Technology Application and Promotion Institute (TAPI) of the Department of Science and Technology from September 2006 to April 2008.
Before and in-between her government stints, she practiced as an intellectual property lawyer to several institutions and offices.
A former partner at the J.R. Santiago and Associates Law Office, she has also taught at the De La Salle University College of Law and the Arellano University School of Law.
