Governments urged to strengthen IP rights systems Ronnel Domingo Inquirer
November 14, 2007
MANILA, Philippines--IN A LITTLE OVER A DECADE, Intellectual property rights as a tool may come to dominate big businesses, in terms of technological dominance, and even hold sway over geopolitical concerns.
According to Manuel Desantes, vice president of the European Patent Office, intellectual property by 2025 could be a defining factor in global events.
Desantes on Tuesday addressed the delegates to the Fourth Heads of Intellectual Property Offices Conference held at The Peninsula Manila Hotel in Makati City.
The two-day conference that began yesterday brought together officials representing Australia, Cambodia, China, the European Union, India, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Laos, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Denmark, the United States and the Philippines.
During the forum, the officials were urged to strengthen the intellectual property rights systems in their respective countries.
The forum builds on the previous conference held last year in Singapore, where officials sought to address the growing workload of IP agencies as well as the need for them to modernize.
To reduce the backlog on patent applications, Desantes suggested that countries should take a different tack and set up IP offices in their respective regions.
“These may not be physical offices but virtual ones,” he said. “IP Philippines has been doing a good job in paring down backlogs as well as fighting piracy, and it is a good model for a regional office in this part of the world.”
For his part, IP Philippines Director General Adrian S. Cristobal Jr. said the common objective among attendees in the forum was to restore the balance in the IP system to ensure that it promoted innovation.
The aim was to make the IP system relevant to peoples and spur socioeconomic development, Cristobal said.
“More than ever, the IP system’s immense impact on society is being felt in communities around the world,” he said. “Issues like access to affordable medicines ... or the level of protection of IP owners vis-à-vis the public’s interest, are among concerns being debated.”
