IPOPHL and PIDS Sign MOU on Strengthening IP Research
06 July 2020
Image credits: IPOPHL
The Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL) has partnered with the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS) to increase research activities and enable intellectual property (IP) policies to be more effective in driving innovation and creativity in the country.
IPOPHL, through its director general, Rowel S. Barba, and PIDS, through its president, Celia M. Reyes, signed on June 30, 2020, a memorandum of understanding (MOU) for the two agencies to work jointly on IP research projects, capacity building, policy analysis and recommendations, and information sharing, among other areas of possible cooperation.
The MOU was initiated by IPOPHL's financial management and administrative service assistant director Eric T. Lanado and IP Academy officer-in-charge Frederick P. Romero.
Barba said the partnership with PIDS marks the start of enriching research on the Philippine intellectual property environment, a crucial pursuit in spurring the innovations needed in our fight against a health crisis and embracing the opportunities presented in the fourth industrial revolution.
“Creating a vibrant scene for IP research will fulfill our broader goals of raising IP awareness and formulating policies that capture the current and long-term needs of businesses, innovators, and creative industries,” he said.
“With the government think tank now as our partner, we hope to generate more studies to promote greater use of the IP system which can help the country achieve its economic, scientific, cultural, and sustainable development goals," Barba added.
Reyes said fostering partnerships with policy makers in the innovation ecosystem, such as IPOPHL, is one of the main thrusts of PIDS.
“This partnership will allow both parties to harness resources and combine our pool of experts to promote evidence-based policy by researching on important IP issues and current policies. We hope we can jointly organize policy dialogues to further discussions on IP and innovation. In addition, PIDS has a wide network of research partners who can be tapped to further the objectives of our partnership,” the PIDS chief said at the virtual signing ceremony.
She expressed eagerness over the wide range of innovation-related research projects IPOPHL and PIDS can take on in the long-term, particularly in the areas of research that PIDS had mapped out in its 2020-2025 agenda. noting that the institution had launched its research agenda for 2020 to 2025.
“We are very excited to initiate projects immediately,” she added.
IP protection, an important link in building a robust innovation ecosystem
PIDS senior research fellow and innovation cluster head Jose Ramon G. Albert said partnering with IPOPHL will help ensure that the fruits of science, technology and innovation are equitably shared.
“We all know the importance of investing in science, technology and innovation and yet, despite the clear returns to such investments, unfortunately we still don’t invest in building the innovation ecosystem. Part of strengthening this is using the IP system," Albert said as he raised possibilities of IPOPHL and PIDS providing joint contributions in the next survey of the annual Global Innovation Index which uses IP utilization as one of its metrics in assessing economies’ innovation capacity and successes.
Initial specific plans under the MOU include PIDS’ assistance in: (1) the conduct of IPOPHL’s “Research Congress (Online) on IP and Innovation” event scheduled in the last quarter of the year and (2) in enhancing the content of the Journal of Intellectual Property and Innovation, the first-ever IP-focused school paper to be published next year in partnership with the De La Salle University.
Collaborations like these, deputy director general Teodoro C. Pascua said, are vital in setting the foundations of a fruitful innovation ecosystem.
“A fruitful innovation ecosystem is a result of strong bonds and active collaboration among innovation actors. As individual agencies, IPOPHL and PIDS have established their own ties with other innovation players. As such, this partnership is not only a two-way partnership but another linkage that can gather and connect others within the innovation network,” Pascua added.
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