IPOPHL opens IP Help Desk in Bohol

March 14, 2023

The Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines  (IPOPHL) officially launched on Monday the Intellectual Property (IP) Help Desk in Bohol to make its programs and services more accessible to the Boholanos.

“With the new IP Help Desk, Boholanos won’t need to travel to Cebu’s IP Satellite Office (IPSO), which is the main office providing IP registration assistance in the Central Visayas region. So we hope to see more Boholanos take advantage of our programs whether they are MSMEs, independent inventors and innovators, creatives and youth members,” Director General Rowel S. Barba said.

Housed in the DTI provincial office in Tagbilaran City, the IP Help Desk of Bohol will also provide greater customer and consulting support in IP application, protection and enforcement while helping promote IP in the province. It also supports the Negosyo Center – also stationed in the provincial office — to promote ease of doing business and MSMEs’ greater access to services. 

Bohol Governor Erico Aristotle C. Aumentado enjoined Boholanos to optimize the IP Help Desk, emphasizing  that “IP is critical to the success of any organization and protecting it is essential for long-term growth and profitability.”

“We can gain the knowledge and allow them to protect and manage their IP assets effectively,”  Aumentado added.

Department of Trade and Industry’s Regional Director for Central Visayas Maria Elena C. Arbon said IP can elevate the value of Bohol’s livelihood products and other products of the mind with the potential for global consumption.

“IP is an asset that you could actually put in your balance sheet … So let’s raise the level of appreciation [for IP]… We have  the ingredients, we just need to learn to harness what we have so it can be processed further for the global markets,” Arbon added. 

The IP Help Desks are extended arms of IPSOs serving to widen IPOPHL’s presence with a province-targeted approach while keeping cost- effectiveness in mind.

To date, IPOPHL has 15 IPSOs, which extend IPOPHL’s services across the country on a regional scale, and 11 IP Help Desks in the country. IPOPHL is aiming to launch and operationalize 20 Help Desks by end-2023 to help scale up the competitiveness of provinces.

“These assistance centers could help us establish stronger links with IP stakeholders while acknowledging the differing cultures and level of development across provinces,” Barba added.

The Bohol IP Help Desk can be reached through (038) 501 – 8260 and via the following emails: r07.bohol@dti.gov.ph, eric.paden@ipophil.gov.ph and ipso-cebu@ipophil.gov.ph. Interested IP applicants who want to be assisted face-to-face are encourage to set an appointment at least one week before their preferred schedule.