IPOPHL, AIM help startups apply for patent, target protecting more IPs of startups
April 16, 2021
Six startups part of the Asian Institute of Management’s Dado Banatao Incubator (AIM-DBI) Program have applied for patent grants at the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL) while six more will also commence their application pending the completion of documentary requirements.
The 12 startups are namely Agrabah; AI4GOV; Antipara; AutoServed; Futuristic Aviation and Maritime Enterprise; Farmvocacy; Filipino Home-Based Moms (FHMoms); Olivia; ReXi; Payruler; Pazeball; and SeeYouDoc.
Last March, the startups went through a month-long 2021 THINC AIM Intellectual Property (IP) Development Track, a training program that is a result of IPOPHL’s partnership with AIM-DBI as forged in January through a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA).
The IP Development Track is exclusive to AIM-DBI startups and is designed to bring synergy between IPOPHL and AIM-DBI through programs on intellectual property creation, protection, and commercialization.
In an April 14, 2021 commencement program to recognize the startups’ participation at the IP Development Track, IPOPHL Director General Rowel S. Barba said he was pleased that, in just three months from its creation, the MoA with AIM-DBI “is already yielding positive outcomes,” which could further the startups’ growth and enable them to contribute in recovery and socio-economic development.
“Today, as COVID-19 confronts us as a gigantic problem, startups, like all of you, can play a crucial role in our road to recovery,” Barba said.
Citing a report by Start-up Genome, the IPOPHL chief said Manila’s start-up ecosystem is valued at $1.6 billion, “an amount that could provide jobs, incomes, a livelihood, and a sense of stability.”
“Indeed you can kickstart the economic recovery by generating more jobs and contributing and spurring innovation. And with so much talent and innovative minds, our country is indeed primed to enter the big leagues in terms of start-ups disrupting traditional businesses. It may be only a matter of owning our works and protecting them,” DG Barba added.
For his part, AIM-DBI Executive Director Prim Paypon stressed the importance of a whole-of-nation approach in elevating the startup ecosystem, sharing that the institution even created new slogan –– “Intellectual Property, Doing Together” (IPDT) –– to underscore the need for collaborations in honing startups’ IP readiness.
“Based on our current and very vibrant partnership with IPOPHL, we at AIM-DBI would like to wish our startups a very new appreciation of what IPDT is about in the pursuit of a journey in intellectual property,” Paypon said, adding IPOPHL serves as “a steering rod and anchor and guiding lighthouse” in AIM-DBI startups’ IP journey.
Meanwhile, Barba also commended the resource experts of the IP Development Track who were from IPOPHL’s Documentation, Information and Technology Transfer Bureau and of those who represented institutions part of IPOPHL’s network of Innovation and Technology Support Offices (ITSOs) which handhold innovators and creators in their IP journey.
The resource experts were namely Dr. Armand R. Reosura of the Carlos Hilado Memorial State College; Ferelyn Oliva of the University of the Philippines-Visayas; Engr. Monalyn L. Oloroso and Princess Lydia S. Fuentes who are both from the Capiz State University.
Barba said he expects more startups to file protection for their IP technologies and assets, especially with more training programs lined up under the IPOPHL-AIM-DBI partnership.
“Our training programs will help startups attain sweet success in their IP journey, from creation to application and commercialization. They will understand its importance––both from legal and business standpoints, benefitting the startups’ future and that of our nation,” Barba added. ### (Janina Lim, Media Relations Officer)