IPOPHL BOOSTS MSME COMPETITIVENESS THRU TM INCENTIVE PACKAGE

To further strengthen support to the government’s initiative to boost competitiveness of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises in their participation in the global trade, the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL) will make available to MSMEs an incentive package which will enable the registration of trademarks with waived fees starting February 14, 2017.

Logos, brands, label marks and trade names are important marketing tools that MSMEs use to differentiate their goods or services from those of their competitors. MSMEs are encouraged to modernize their operations and build their competitive capacities by utilizing the intellectual property system by trademarks registration. 

Under the Trademark Registration Incentive Package also known as “Juana Make a Mark,”  IPOPHL will waive the payment of basic filing fees, fees for claim of color and publication fee for opposition of trademark applications filed by the beneficiary MSME subject to certain conditions.

To be a beneficiary, an MSME must be able to pass a set of eligibility criteria which includes, having business activities included in the DTI’s or IPOPHL’s list of priority sector, or a business situated in areas which are prone to natural disasters or facing social and/or economic challenges, among others.

As “Juana Make a Mark” also highlights respect for intellectual property, MSMEs are advised to carry out necessary steps to make sure that the mark applied for registration is not infringing other trademarks.

The Incentive Package envisions registering 1000 trademarks from the MSMEs on a first-come first-served basis.

MSMEs may get additional information from the IPOPHL satellite offices situated in the key cities of the country.