IPOPHL setting up green lane for trademark applications

MANILA, Philippines — The Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL) is planning to set up a green lane for processing trademark applications and beef up its manpower to streamline processes and reduce IP cases backlog. 

IPOPHL director general Josephine Santiago said the agency is looking at having a green lane for trademark applications, to follow the best practices from the European Union Intellectual Property Office. 

“We will soon implement the Joint Examination Track procedure (JET), where a group of senior examiners will  immediately decide on a mark’s registrability on absolute grounds (Sec. 123 of the Intellectual Property Code of the Philippines). If it’s allowed by the JET examiners, the trademark application will be published for 30 days to accommodate any opposition. If there is no opposition, it will be deemed registered on the 31st day,” Santiago said. 

An applicant is immediately notified when JET examiners disallow a mark.

The JET procedure, however, cannot be used for examination of marks similar to other marks as those require more thorough examination.

At present, the application of a trademark entails acquiring a filing date after a set of requirements and payment are submitted to the IPOPHL.  

The mark will then undergo a substantive examination to determine registrability under Sec. 123.

A mark can be granted quicker than the five-year average of eight months, if there is no opposition. 

Aside from the green lane, the IPOPHL is beefing up its manpower for disposal of cases. 

 “IPOPHL has time and again, tried to be sensitive to what is needed by the practitioners. For instance, first in our priority is the backlog reduction program. Among measures taken, we’re requesting additional plantilla positions from the Department of Budget and Management for more lawyers and patent and trademark examiners,” she said. 

While longer timelines for processes are provided in the international agreements and treaties entered into by IPOPHL, she said the agency would comply with the Ease of Doing Business (EODB) Act. 

Republic Act 11032 or the Ease of Doing Business Act of 2018 which seeks to address bureaucratic red tape in government by providing a required processing time for government transactions, was signed by President Duterte in May. 

Under the law, simple transactions would have to be processed within three days, complex transactions in seven days and highly technical transactions in 20 days and such posed a challenge to the IPOPHL.  

In addition to compliance with the EODB, the planned measures are intended to improve IPOPHL’s service to clients. 

“IP practitioners have always been our staunch partners. We need to strengthen these partnerships in a time when Filipinos should be using the IP system to be globally competitive in their products and services,” Santiago said.