IP filings in the Philippines increased by 11.6 percent in 2021 to a total of 46,496, recovering significantly from the 2020 drop as lighter quarantine restrictions last year reignited business and IP-related activities, the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL) said in February.

“This significant rebound, notably in utility models, trademarks, patents and copyright, was made possible by our aggressive IP promotion campaigns to reach more inventors, artists and entrepreneurs,” said Rowel S. Barba, director general of IPOPHL. “On top of this is our continuous work to upgrade, streamline and digitalize our services to attract more customers.

From taking the biggest hit in 2020, utility model (UM) filings made the biggest recovery, recording a 20 percent year-over-year boost to a total of 1,588. The rebound, which was faster than the 4 percent yearover- year growth in pre-pandemic year 2019, was driven by residents whose UM filings grew 24.4 percent with a total of 24,015. Non-resident filers dipped by 44 percent to 48.

Food chemistry made the largest contribution to the sum, with 815 UM filings. This was followed by basic materials chemistry (with 92 filings made); other special machines (77); handling (75); and civil engineering (57). Trademark applications surged by 12 percent to 39,616, with resident filers accounting for the bulk at 24,015 and bouncing back with a 14 percent year-overyear growth. Non-resident filings also rebounded with 12 percent. In total, trademark filings last year grew at a faster pace than 2019’s 10 percent annual growth.

Trademark filings growth was largely due to pharmaceuticals, health, and cosmetics filings, which totalled 11,360. Agricultural products and services (10,977) came second, followed by scientific research, information and communication technology (8,946); management, communications, real estate and financial services (7,624); and textiles, clothing and accessories (5,843).

Meanwhile, patent filings expanded by 10 percent to 4,031. Filers under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT), who propelled patent filing activities, expanded by 12 percent to 3,344 while resident filers grew at 455 by 9 percent.

Pharmaceutical patents pushed the hike (with 3,170 filings), followed by organic fine chemistry (1,562); biotechnology, (994); basic materials chemistry, (614); and food chemistry, (443). Industrial design (ID) filings, meanwhile, continued its decline although at a slower rate compared to 2020’s 37 percent. ID applications fell by -0.2 percent to 1,261. Resident ID filings contracted -0.3 percent to 644 while non-resident filings remained the same at 617.

A total of 152 filings under the means of transport classification made up the majority. Trailing behind were packages and containers for the transport or handling of goods (95); recording, communication or information retrieval equipment (64); furnishing (62); fluid distribution equipment, sanitary, heating,ventilation and air-conditioning equipment, solid fuel (54).

Deposits for copyright, meanwhile, soared 123% to 2,086 from 940.

The top five fields for copyright deposits last year were in other literary, scholarly, scientific and artistic works category (709 deposits); books, pamphlets, articles, e-books, audio books, comics, novels, and other writings (439); musical compositions with or without lyrics (281); drawings, paintings, architectural works, sculpture, engraving, prints, lithography and others (236); and computer programs, software, games, applications (137).

All of this suggests that intellectual property lawyers in the Philippines will continue to have ample opportunities to advise their domestic and foreign clients alike on patent, trademark and other forms of IP rights protection.

With this continuing interest in intellectual property protection in the Philippines, we turned to IP professionals in the region in order to understand better what clients need today. Asia IP asked a large number of professionals – mostly in-house counsel
and corporate legal managers – what they were looking for from their legal service providers. From their answers, we have compiled our list of The Philippines IP Experts, those lawyers who understand just what their clients need and are able to provide them with the best practical advice.

Today’s clients are looking for more than just a degree from a top-notch university and a couple of decades of practice. In order to be an outstanding provider of intellectual property advice, a lawyer must also be capable of understanding how intellectual property impacts the rest of his client’s business, and be able to provide practical, real-world, business-savvy advice. She must be able to provide sound advice on the current law, but also needs to be able to understand coming trends which are likely to impact her client’s business.

Unlike days past when she might have played just a bit role, today’s IP Expert is every bit a full-fledged team member.

The Philippines’ largest IP firms and practices are well-represented on our list, with Angara Abello Concepcion Regala & Cruz Law Offices placing six lawyers on the list; Cruz Marcelo & Tenefrancia with four; and Quisumbing Torres and Villaraza & Angangco each with three.

Our survey includes only those lawyers working at law firms in the Philippines. Most of the lawyers named to our list have multiple practice specialties. Many of them are litigators, while others concentrate on prosecution work or provide strategic advice.

All of them have something in common: they are experts in their fields and, in one way or another, they provide extra value for their clients. They are Asia IP’s IP Experts for the Philippines.

PHILIPPINES IP EXPERTS