IPOPHL, UKIPO renews cooperation agreement

Collaborative ties strengthened

The intellectual property authorities of the Philippines and United Kingdom on September 26 reinforced ties for the mutual development of their intellectual property systems, renewing a memorandum of understanding (MOU) for further cooperation, possibly extending beyond the area of enforcement, for another three years.

"Developing a modern intellectual property system that is at par with world standards is a task the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL) undertakes in close collaboration with international counterparts. The Intellectual Property Office of the United Kingdom (UKIPO)  stands as one of IPOPHL's staunchest partners in the area of intellectual property enforcement, owing to the intensive knowledge exchange and capacity-building in enforcement we've carried out in the initial MOU," IPOPHL Director General Santiago said.

Director General Josephine R. Santiago and UKIPO's  Chief Executive Officer and Comptroller General Mr. Tim Moss inked the renewed MOU at a ceremony held in Geneva, a month ahead of the initial MOU's expiry.

IPOPHL and UKIPO first concluded a cooperation agreement in October 2015, after which the two offices jointly crafted a work plan that centered on intellectual property enforcement as the primary area of cooperation.

The agreement prompted joint projects such as the ‘UKIPO-IPOPHL Enforcement Workshop: Dealing with Physical Goods to Digital Crime’ in 2016, and allowed active involvement of UKIPO and British law enforcement in IPOPHL's 6th Anti-Counterfeiting and Piracy Summit.

Under the present MOU, the cooperation areas identified are IP protection, utilization, and enforcement.

Last April, the Philippine National Intellectual Property Month, UKIPO's Director of Copyright and IP Enforcement Dr. Ros Lynch served as a resource speaker in the National Committee on Intellectual Property Rights 's high-level, regional workshop on IP enforcement.

Dr. Lynch shared insights with Philippine law enforcement agencies on combating counterfeiting and piracy in online transactions, as well as  UKIPO's education campaigns.

IPOPHL and UKIPO will soon convene a meeting to jumpstart the drafting of a new work plan and chart the direction of their partnership in the next three years.