IPOPHL forges partnership with DTI bureau to drive IP use among innovative MSMEs
Published on July 17, 2019
The Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL) has partnered with the Bureau of Small and Medium Enterprise Development (BSMED) of the Department of Trade and Industry's Regional Operations Group (DTI-ROG) in a bid to scale up its interagency network that advances the objectives of the IPOPHL's Mind2Market Program.
IPOPHL Director-General Josephine R. Santiago and DTI-ROG Undersecretary Zenaida C. Maglaya sealed the partnership through a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) the officials signed on July 16, 2019 during the MSME Summit 2019 held at the Philippine International Convention Center.
"The new synergy, the first secured through a MOA, will center on shepherding MSMEs through the IP cycle from the point of creation towards protection and eventually to utilization or commercialization so that MSME creations, innovations and inventions may develop from mind to market in order to impact the economy---a need from which the Mind2Market Program is born," IPOPHL DG Santiago said.
The IPOPHL has been working on establishing ties with other government partners whose services will be useful to the implementation of the program.
Besides BSMED, the IPOPHL tied up with the Philippine Rice Research Institute through a memorandum of understanding inked earlier this year. The IP Office is hoping to enjoin more government-partners in this initiative.
Part of the aims of the program is to offer a more efficient cooperation with and among Mind2Market partners. As such, the IPOPHL has put up the Online Linkage Channel (OLC), a platform that will interlink stand-alone programs and roadmaps of different agencies and then harmonize them toward the use of the country's effective IP system.
Under the MOA, the IPOPHL is also tasked to function as the central coordinator who will act on all the services requested by inventor- and creator-clients, including the transmission of the request to the appropriate agency for prompt action or solution.
Meanwhile, the DTI-ROG's BSMED will serve as the IPOPHL's connector to the MSMEs seeking to utilize the services of the IPOPHL. The DTI bureau will also participate in the monitoring and evaluation of the Mind2Market Program activities to ensure that data are captured and further analyzed in the client profile monitoring system managed by the Bureau.
DTI Secretary Ramon M. Lopez said the MSMEs are vital to the Philippine economic growth story as the sector accounts for nearly 99.56% of the country's total number of enterprises.
Sec. Lopez touted the government's triumphs in implementing MSME Development Plan 2017-2022 which puts forward "improved and innovative" initiatives through five strategic goals which aim to address the most pressing needs and concerns of small businesses. These objectives are geared toward (1) improving business climate; (2) improving access to finance; (3) enhancing management and labour capacities; (4) developing access to technology and innovation; and (5) expanding access to markets.
The BSMED play an essential role in the realization of the medium-term agenda's vision as its core mandate lies in promoting and developing the Philippine MSMEs to be more competitive both in the domestic and international markets.
For its part, the IPOPHL contributes significantly to the achievement of the objectives of the MSME Development Plan by enabling an effective IP and industrial system that fosters an environment driven toward innovation and creativity.
The IPOPHL is the primary government agency mandated to administer and implement Republic Act No. 8293, or the Intellectual Property Code of the Philippines.
The law aims to put in place an effective intellectual and industrial property system in the country, recognizing that such is vital to the development of domestic and creative activity, facilitation of transfer of technology, attraction of foreign investments, and development of market access for Filipino products.