PATENT-RELATED QUESTIONS

1. How do I file my application for an invention patent?

    To obtain a filing date, you need to submit:

    1. Request for patent
    2. Your name, address and signature

      If you are a non-resident, the name and address of your resident agent
    1. Description of the invention and one or more claims
  The other formal requirements, which are not needed to obtain a filing date, but you may wish to include at the point of filing are:
    1. Drawings necessary to understand the invention
    2. An abstract; and
    3. If the priority of an earlier filed application is claimed, the
      details of the claim, i.e.: filing date, file number and country of origin.

2. How much is the filing fee for invention patents?

 

The filing fee is Php3,636.00 for Big Entities and Php1,818.00 for Small Entities. It may be
paid at the point of filing or within one month from filing date.

A small entity is :

  1. Any natural or juridical person whose assets are worth Twenty Million Pesos (Php20M) or less; or,
  2. Any entity, agency, office, bureau or unit of the Philippine government including government-owned or controlled corporations, state universities and colleges and government-owned or government-run schools.
A big entity is any natural or juridical person other than a small entity as defined above.

Any natural or juridical person is presumed to be a big entity unless a written statement to the contrary is submitted by such natural person or the duly authorized representative of such juridical person.

A small entity is entitled to a fifty percent (50%) reduction of the rates unless otherwise provided in the Rules.

Entitlement to the reduction of rate may be claimed at the time of payment by submitting the sworn statement mentioned earlier. Said written statement shall be submitted only once for each application, case or registration.

The change in status or any assignment or other transfer from big entity to small entity shall not result in any refund whatsoever of any payment made prior to the submission of the sworn statement. A change in status, assignment or other transfer from small entity to big entity shall not result in any increase of fees paid prior to the recordal of the change, assignment or other transfer.

3. Application Forms for Invention Patents – where can I get them?

 

To help you comply with the filing date and the other formal requirements,

Forms are downloadable from this IPO Website under “SERVICES”

Or, at the :

Documentation Information and Technology Transfer Bureau
Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines
2nd Floor, IPO Building, 351 Sen. Gil Puyat Avenue, Makati City
Tel. Nos.: 752-5450 to 65 local 207
Telefax: 897-1724
E-mail address: DITTB@ipophilippines.gov.ph

4. How do I register my utility model or industrial design?

 

     To obtain a filing date, you need to submit:

  • Request for patent
  • Your name, address and signature

     If you are a non-resident, the name and address of your resident agent

  • Description of the invention and one or more claims
  The other formal requirements, which are not needed to obtain a filing date, but you may wish to
include at the point of filing are:
  • Drawings necessary to understand the invention
  • An abstract
  • If the priority of an earlier filed application is claimed, the details of the claim, i.e.: filing date, file number and country of origin

5. How much is the filing fee for utility models and industrial design?

 

The filing fee is Php3,030.00 for Big Entities and Php1,515.00 for Small Entities.

A small entity is :

  1. Any natural or juridical person whose assets are worth Twenty Million Pesos (Php20M) or less; or,
  2. Any entity, agency, office, bureau or unit of the Philippine government including government-owned or controlled corporations, state universities and colleges and government-owned or government-run schools.
A big entity is any natural or juridical person other than a small entity as defined above.

Any natural or juridical person is presumed to be a big entity unless a written statement to the contrary is submitted by such natural person or the duly authorized representative of such juridical person.

A small entity is entitled to a fifty percent (50%) reduction of the rates unless otherwise provided in the Rules.

Entitlement to the reduction of rate may be claimed at the time of payment by submitting the sworn statement mentioned earlier. Said written statement shall be submitted only once for each application, case or registration.

The change in status or any assignment or other transfer from big entity to small entity shall not result in any refund whatsoever of any payment made prior to the submission of the sworn statement.

A change in status, assignment or other transfer from small entity to big entity shall not result in any increase of fees paid prior to the recordal of the change, assignment or other transfer.

6. The Application Forms for Utility Models and Industrial Design – where can I get them?

 

To help you comply with the filing date and the other formal requirements,

Forms are downloadable from this IPO Website under “SERVICES”

Or, at the :

Documentation Information and Technology Transfer Bureau
Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines
2nd Floor, IPO Building, 351 Sen. Gil Puyat Avenue, Makati City
Tel. Nos.: 752-5450 to 65 loc. 207
Telefax No. 8971724
E-mail address: DITTB@ipophilippines.gov.ph

7. Is the trademark registration or the patent grant absolutely necessary before I can
    commence commercial operations?

 

That is assuming your application is legitimate and you are absolutely certain that you are not appropriating what is not yours.

At present, there are 3.4 Million patent applications worldwide.They originate from:

USA 27%
Japan 28%
EPC member states 31%
Others 14%

(Source : Discussion paper submitted by Japan at the APEC-IPEG X, March 2000)

Can you Imagine what will happen if these industries are stopped from operating while waiting for their patents to be granted?

Definitely, technology will not progress and economic growth will be adversely affected.

8. If I do not have any patent of my own but would like to go into business using somebody
    else’s patent, can I go ahead and invest my money?

 

YES.

You have at least two possibilities:

  1. Voluntary licensing - You may offer to enter into a licensing agreement and pay the royalty resulting from the agreement which you and the patent owner reached. Given the free market economy, we encourage you to follow this option.
  2. Compulsory licensing by filing a petition with the IPO provided you have exerted efforts to obtain authorization from the patent owner on reasonable commercial terms and conditions but your efforts were unsuccessful within a reasonable period of time.

    The procedure in a compulsory license petition is adversarial, which means that you and the patent owner will have opportunity to present your respective evidence before any decision can be made.

9. Suppose the technology I want to use in my business is not covered by a patent, can I go
    ahead and use it?

 

That depends.

If it used to be covered by a patent and the patent has expired, YES.

If it is protected as a trade secret, NO.