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IPOPHL Now Accepts Online Requests for a Commercial Patent Search
18 June 2020
The Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL) now allows commercial patent search requests to be lodged via email.
Clients requesting the IPOPHL to conduct a commercial patent search usually intend to launch a product or service in the Philippines. This kind of search helps them for various purposes of their research, whether it is to kickstart R&D or to ensure that no infringement case can arise with inventions covered by already existing intellectual property (IP) protection.
IPOPHL’s commercial patent search services, as conducted by its IP Search & Documentation Division (IPSDD) under the Innovation Bureau, include:
Equivalent Search – determines Philippine patent equivalent of a patent filed or granted in other IP Offices.
Compound per se Search – identifies Philippine patent claiming a drug’s base compound Comprehensive Search State-of-the-Art Search -generating local and global patents (granted and pending applications) and non-patent literature, this provides an overview of prior art in a particular technology Freedom-to-Operate Search - includes granted patents and pending patent applications that might be infringed by a product or process
Patent Mapping and Analytics
High level state-of-the-art search for a specific technology which provides in-depth analysis and visuals on IP trends, patenting activity patterns, geographic distribution and key players Generates patent landscape reports
Upon request, the customer can expect to be provided with answers on the:
Doability of the search, as well as limitations Type of search to be conducted Documents to be submitted Timetable for search Fee per search Content of search report
For equivalent and compound per se searches, the average turnaround time is about seven working days while a comprehensive search will take about 20 working days because of the highly technical nature of the task.
To know more specifics about the process and fees, a comprehensive guide is provided in this link.
Even prior to the Covid-19 situation, the Innovation Bureau, in collaboration with the IT Management System, has already been preparing for online delivery of services. This made IPSDD’s launch of the new online system timely, in line with IPOPHL’s Memorandum Circular 2020-13 which, among others, encourages offices to maximize the use of online tools as part of the new normal.
However, for the commercial patent search, payment will still be paid at the IPOPHL headquarters in Manila pending an online payment system which is under the works and may be launched soon.
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