“We make your dreams come true” – government IP office

“With the future of our country depending on innovators who are to come from universities and R&D institutions, IP or intellectual property can earn you millions and make your dreams come true,” said Atty. Ricardo Blancaflor, Director-General of the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL). IP means establishing ownership and can come in the form of patents, trademarks and copyright. This was discussed in the “Foundation course on IP” held 7-8 March in Iloilo City by IPOPHIL in collaboration with the Western Visayas College of Science & Technology.

After the course’s welcome ceremony, SEAFDEC/AQD signed an agreement with IPOPHL to become part of the latter’s network of ITSOs (innovation and technology support offices), a pilot project created by IPOPHL in partnership with the World Intellectual Property Organization to provide a ready pool of science and technical experts with competence to conduct patent search and patent drafting as well as to ­assist in patent prosecution.

“With 40 years of research-and-development under its belt, AQD has developed a lot of aquaculture technologies,” noted AQD Chief Dr. Felix Ayson. “The next step is to determine which are patentable, and have not been disseminated as prior art. We can be ambitious and perhaps foresee a future where R&D can be independently funded.”

Five SEAFDEC/AQD staff and the AQD legal retainer attended the course along with representatives from at least 13 educational institutions in the Visayas. By Development Communication Section