IPOPHL enhances IP Depot to attract more buyers around the world

November 22, 2021

The Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL) recently enhanced its Intellectual Property (IP) Depot, a digital marketplace for IP assets, to now have a more user-friendly interface and a forum that aims to create an online community of IP buyers and sellers from all over the world. 

“Overall, the IP Depot webpage has been enhanced with a design and visual elements that are more in line with the IPOPHL branding. This shows our own commitment to protect the brand we have worked hard for and provide our stakeholders with a better experience,” IPOPHL Director General Rowel S. Barba said. 

A major upgrade made is the Solution Search Forum, which creates a community of buyers and sellers who can initiate and engage discussions on the platform, such as when finding a certain IP product. 

“We hope with a platform that enables increased engagement, we can also boost our visibility, with engagement being one of the top factors for search engine optimization,” Barba said. 

The IP Depot has also been linked to the IPOPHL official website to help improve the site’s searchability.

“With this, we will see the IP Depot facilitate commercialization of IPs and attract more international buyers, thereby generating income for the local IP owners and contributing to the economic condition of the country,” Barba said, noting that almost a quarter of 2021 inquiries from interested IP asset buyers and investors were foreigners. 

The IP Depot is an online marketplace created by IPOPHL to help stakeholders promote their patented inventions, registered utility models, industrial designs, trademarks and copyrighted works to potential investors and buyers for free. 

At present, it showcases a total of 90 IP assets, of which 70 are from Innovation and Technology Support Offices (ITSOs).

The Technology Transfer Division (TTD) of the Documentation, Information and Technology Transfer Bureau (DITTB), in coordination with the Communications and Marketing Office (CMO) and the Management Information and Service (MIS) Bureau, spearheaded the development of the enhanced IP Depot webpage this year.

“IPOPHL commits to continuously improve the IP Depot to establish this as the main marketplace for high-value IP products for the Filipino and by the Filipinos,” Barba added.