The patent attorney profession is still in its infancy in the Philippines. This may be gleaned from the relatively low number of patent applications being filed in the name of local inventors or companies. From information given by the Bureau of Patents (BOP), the number of patent applications, which include inventions, utility models and designs, filed in the Philippines increased by more than 100% compared to 2002. This is, however, due to the increase in patent applications received from foreigners entering the Philippines thru the PCT. The Philippine joined the PCT on August 21 2001, and since 2002, PCT applications received by the BOP have increased steadily. Applications, however, from local companies have remained more or less constant at an average of about 1,200 applications a year. The ratio of foreign patent applications to local has averaged at 70:30, as shown in the table below.
| Patent applications |
| Year |
Local |
Foreign |
Total |
| 2002 |
1,119 |
1,143 |
2,262 |
| 2003 |
1,285 |
2,165 |
3,450 |
| 2004 |
1,266 |
3,033 |
4,299 |
| 2005 |
1,375 |
3,408 |
4,783 |
| 2006 |
1,217 |
3,546 |
4,763 |
| 2007 |
1,051 |
3,714 |
4,765 |
| Total |
7,313 |
17,009 |
24,322 |
The number of patents granted for the last six years fell 35% behind the number of patent applications received for the same period. However, the year 2007 showed a marked improvement of 85% over the previous year in the performance of the BOP, which has not gone unnoticed by local applicants.
| Patents granted |
| Year |
Local |
Foreign |
Total |
| 2002 |
591 |
1,668 |
2,259 |
| 2003 |
863 |
1,727 |
2,590 |
| 2004 |
682 |
1,495 |
2,177 |
| 2005 |
737 |
1,984 |
2,721 |
| 2006 |
599 |
1,515 |
2,114 |
| 2007 |
1,212 |
2,708 |
3,920 |
| Total |
4,684 |
11,097 |
15,781 |
To boost the patent agency profession and patenting activity in the country, the IP Office of the Philippines (IPOPhil) introduced the patent agent qualifying examination (PAQE) in 2006, and has held three examinations since then, the last one from July 14 to 18 2008. The PAQE is supported by the European Patent Office (EPO) and the EC-ASEAN Intellectual Property Rights Cooperation Program (ECAPII). In 2007, out of 33 examinees, 19 passed. IPOPhil prepares the examinees by giving a mandatory five-day patent drafting seminar. For lawyers who have no technical background, a short course entitled engineering for lawyers was introduced this year, and other seminars on patents and patentability were also held. All these patent seminars and courses are handled by the training division of IPOPhil, which is the Intellectual Property Research and Training Institute.
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| Editha R Hechanova |
Hechanova Bugay & Vilchez
GF Chemphil Building Antonio Arnaiz Ave
Makati City 1223
Philippines
Tel: +63 2 888 4293
Fax: +63 2 888 4290
editharh@info.com.ph
