Philippine patent registrations rose 9 percent in the first six months of 2023, while utility models and industrial design applications saw consistent growth every month, the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines said Thursday.
“Patent activities could be positioned to reach a new record-high while UM and ID applications move toward an impressive rebound. From this, we could sense that 2023 is skewing towards a year of innovation,” said IPOPHL director-general Rowel Barba said.
Data showed that applications for patent registration increased to 2,134 in the first half from 1,958 a year ago. Non-residents accounted for 90 percent of registrations with 1,916 applications, while resident filings made up the remaining 10 percent with 218 filings.
Pharmaceuticals accounted for 24.47 percent of registered patents; organic fine chemistry, 10.58 percent; and digital communications, 7.89 percent.
Filings for utility models rebounded from the pandemic lows and posted 27.7 percent growth to 835 from 654. UMs are patent-like IPs deemed to protect innovations.
Applications for industrial designs increased 17.6 percent to 635 from 540. IDs are used to protect the 3 and 2-dimensional aesthetic features of a product. Top industries for ID applications are for hoisting, furnishing and packages and containers for the transport or handling of goods.
Meanwhile, copyright registrations totaled 2,833, climbing by 64.5 percent from 1,722.
Barba underscored the improved awareness of copyright protection as registrations landed 70 percent closer towards IPOPHL’s 2023 goal of 4,000 registrations and represented a 7.9-percent increase from 3,706 achieved in 2022.
Copyright registrations for the period were mainly driven by books, pamphlets, articles, e-books, audio books, comics, novels and other writings at 60.4 percent; followed by computer programs, software, games and apps at 10.6 percent; and musical compositions at 8.8 percent.
Trademarks filings slipped 8 percent, year-on-year to 18,599 from 20,342 applications.
Bulk of trademark filings were in pharmaceutical, health and cosmetic products, with 18.7-percent share; followed by agricultural products and services, 17.9 percent; and scientific research, information and communication technology, 13.5 percent.
“Historically, trademark filing activities have been more active in the second semester so we continue to monitor the trend to see if a reversal is still possible,” Barba said.