I pen this week’s column while on a plane to the majestic home of the Chocolate Hills where exciting events on Intellectual Property will unfold starting 13 March.
Chief among them is the two-day IP Roadshow organized by our Documentation, Information, and Technology Transfer Bureau. This event will allow Boholanos to dive deep into the IPverse and each element within it — trademarks, patents, utility models, industrial designs, and copyright. No less than the heads of the Bureau of Trademarks, Bureau of Patents, and Bureau of Copyright and Related Rights will discuss IP to help Boholanos create, protect and commercialize their prized IP assets.
We are also celebrating the launch of our IP Help Desk in Bohol. Stationed in the DTI Bohol office and manned by our IP specialists, the IP Help Desk will allow more Boholanos to enjoy IPOPHL’s MSME-oriented programs and overall services from application, and protection to enforcement.
Speaking of enforcement, our IP Rights Enforcement Office will be collaborating with local government units to promote a culture of respect for IP through the adoption of their own Anti-Counterfeit and Anti-Piracy Policy.
By propagating a profound sense of respect for IP, we hope to instill a deep love for innovation and technology. IPOPHL’s roadshow is opening Bohol’s doors to endless innovative possibilities by enjoining higher education institutions to be part of our Innovation and Technology Support Office Program where they can accelerate their patenting capacities.
We will also engage the youth and excite their indomitable spirit by showing how their ideas can make them effective changemakers of society. Bohol schools can further these efforts by joining the Young IP Advocates Program which upholds IP promotion and creation by establishing active IP clubs at the high school level.
This week, Bohol will also be receiving more guests as we open the 69th ASEAN Working Group on IP Cooperation Meeting on the captivating island of Panglao. This meeting gathers high-level IP representatives from the ASEAN Region and dialogue partners from the European Union, Japan, South Korea, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand and the World Intellectual Property Organization, all convening to share creative and practical ways ASEAN can harness the IP system as a tool for its economic and innovative development.
This meeting will mark the conclusion of IPOPHL’s two-year leadership of the AWGIPC and we hope to end on a high note in advancing the ASEAN IP Rights Action Plan 2016 – 2025.
Our IP activities will be a treat to remember for every Boholano, whether an entrepreneur, innovator, artist, young student, or just someone young at heart. As a whole, Bohol can achieve greater competitiveness through IP.
IP can help revitalize the province’s tourist attractions by helping brand a better and more innovative Bohol. Our BOT is taking initial steps in this by capacitating the producers of the Ube Kinampay and the Asin Tibuok to market their products through geographic indication — a type of collective IP protection that has brought to fame the likes of Parmigiano Reggiano, Champagne and Kampot Pepper of Cambodia, to name a few.
Bohol can bounce back stronger from the pandemic by boosting its innovative and creative development, a strategy to which the IP system can contribute. Bohol is after all in an impressive spot on the Cities and Municipalities and Competitiveness Index: 35th out of 81 provinces!
We hope the events throughout the week will show Boholanos how IP can benefit their lives, from supplying the spark for innovation and creativity to providing the needed incentive in commercializing their business ideas.