IPOPHL, IP Australia upskill chemical field, biotech patent examiners

The Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL) continues to hone the skills of its patent examiners, now focusing on the field of Biotechnology, as the patent bureau scales capacity for operating as an International Searching Authority / International Preliminary Examining Authority (ISA/IPEA) by 2019.

Thirty patent examiners specializing in the field of bio-technology, organic chemistry, chemical technology, and agriculture, gathered at the IPOPHL from November 12 to 16, to undergo a training/workshop on substantive search and examination in the field of Bioinformatics, with focus on topics relating to isolated biomolecules, transgenic plants, transgenic cells, and biomedical applications.

The training/workshop, was once again done in partnership with IP Australia, who provided the experts to impart their best practices in search and examination as an ISA/IPEA, especially those directly related to aspects in the field of biotechnology.

The IP Australia experts were Vishal Desai, PhD and  Kelly Hitchens, PhD.

The training included conducting keyword and sequence search on STN (Scientific and Technical Information Network), BLAST (Basic Local Alignment Search Tool), and The Lens search tools, through learning basic and advanced search commands.

Patent examiners consult and use several specialized databases in carrying out comprehensive patent search and examination, which in turn is a vital step in determining an invention’s patentability.

The training/workshop with IP Australia complements the continuing education programs being undergone by the patent examiners, as part of a holistic capacity-building approach of IPOPHL as an ISA/IPEA.