INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS IN THE PHILIPPINES

Brief Background
The Philippine government has made it a State policy to protect and promote
intellectual property rights.

This policy was enshrined both in the 1973 Constitution which provides that
"the exclusive right to inventions, writings and artistic creations shall be
secured to inventors, authors, and artists for a limited period and in the 1987
Constitution which explicitly mandates that the State shall protect intellectual
property.

The Philippines became a member of the World ntellectual Property
Organization [WPO] in 1980. t was a signatory to a number of significant
multilateral international agreements and treaties for the protection and
promotion of intellectual property rights.


The first Iaws protecting inteIIectuaI property rights were enacted in the
PhiIippines in 1947, to wit:

RepubIic Act No. 165 otherwise known as "An Act Creating a Patent
Office, Prescribing its Powers and Duties, Regulating the ssuance of Patents
and Appropriating Funds Therefor.
RepubIic Act No. 166 otherwise known as "An Act to Provide for the
Registration and Protection of Trade Marks, Trade Names and Service
Marks, Defining Unfair Competition and False Marking and Providing
Remedies Against the Same, and for other Purposes.


Subsequent to the foregoing, additionaI Iaws were enacted and
issuances promuIgated to further promote and protect inteIIectuaI
property rights, to wit:

RepubIic Act No. 422 transferring the examination of copyright
applications to the Bureau of Public Libraries.
RepubIic Act No. 623 regulating the use of duly stamped or marked
bottles, boxes, casks, kegs, barrels, and other similar containers; providing,
in the case of foreign applicants, for reciprocity and recognition of their
priority rights; establishing, in the case of trademarks, principal and
supplemental as well as interference proceedings; extending protection of
utility models and industrial designs under the patent system; and providing,
in the case of trademark registration, for reciprocity arrangement with other
countries.
RepubIic Act No. 5434 providing for a uniform procedure for appeals from
the decision of quasi-judicial officers including the Director of Patents.
Administrative Order No. 94 [November 20, 1967] creating a committee
to review the Philippine patent system and recommend amendatory laws to
further upgrade it.
PresidentiaI Decree No. 721 creating the Legal Services Division and the
Research and nformation Division in the Philippine Patent Office.
Subsequently, major reorganization of the various Divisions was made in the
1980's. The General Organic Chemistry Division and the
ChemicalTechnology Division were merged to form the Chemical Division.
The Mechanical-Electrical Divisionwas merged with the Mechanical, Design,
Utility Model Division and Electrical Division to form the Mechanical and
Electrical Examining Division.
PresidentiaI Decree No. 1263 amending Republic Acts Nos. 165 and
166, granting authority to the Philippine Patent Office to increase its fees and
to spend a portion of its income for priority projects; exempting indigent
inventors who filed their application for patent through the Philippine
nventor's Commission from all fees charged by the Philippine Patent Office;
and shortening the period for thegrant of a compulsory license from one
hundred eighty [180] days to one hundred twenty [120] daysfrom the date the
petition is filed in cases where the compulsory license applied for is on a
patented product or process involving any project approved by the Board of
nvestments [BO].
Executive Order No. 133 [February 27, 1987] merging the Philippine
Patent Office with the then Technology Transfer Board thereby creating the
Bureau of Patents, Trademarks and Technology Transfer [BPTTT].
Executive Order No. 60 was issued in 1993 creating the nter-Agency
Committee on ntellectual Property Rights [AC-PR] under the Office of the
President of the Philippines.
Department Administrative Orders Nos. 5 and 6 introduced
amendments to the Rules of Practice in Patent and Trademark Cases and
the Rules of Procedures of the Technology Transfer Registry effective on
March 15, 1993.
RepubIic Act No. 8293 otherwise known as the ntellectual Property Code
of the Philippines was enacted and signed into law in 1997. t took effect on
January 1, 1998.










IPR TREATIES
The Republic of the Philippines is a signatory to several international treaties
and conventions on intellectual property rights, to wit:
Convention Establishing the World ntellectual Property
Organization [since 1980]

Paris Convention for the Protection of ndustrial Property [since
1965]

Budapest Treaty on the nternational Recognition of the Deposit of
Microorganisms for Purposes of Patent Procedure [since 1981]

Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works
[since 1951]

nternational Convention for the Protection of Performers,
Producers of Phonographs and Broadcasting Organizations [since
1984]

Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of ntellectual Property
Rights [TRPS Agreement]