Intellectual property filings in the Philippines rose 15 percent in 2018 to 43,461 applications from 38,801 in 2017, the Intellectual Property Office said Monday.
The five-year average growth rate of IP filings has increased to 7 percent.
“We are now seeing the results of our deliberate move for closer engagement with the academe, businesses and industry in regions outside of Metro Manila. In 2018 alone, we opened three intellectual property satellite offices in Dumaguete, Naga, and Zamboanga to reach out to IP creators there,” said IPOPHL director general Josephine Santiago.
Increased filings at both the local and global level signaled a rising recognition of the economic added-value of intellectual property in commercial activity and in research and development.
“This signifies that more and more people are utilizing IP to enhance competitiveness in business, and as an incentive to make commercially-viable technology,” Santiago added.
Another contributing factor to the growth was IPOPHL’s deployment in 2018 of its full suite of online filing systems for trademarks, invention, utility models and industrial design, allowing easier filing for applicants.