PCCI, WIPO renew partnership

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) has renewed its partnership with the World Intellectual Property Office (WIPO) to raise awareness on the importance of intellectual property (IP) among Philippine enterprises.

PCCI president George Barcelon and WIPO officer-in-charge Peter Willimott recently met and agreed on the need for a strategy to build respect on IP and develop tools for its increased awareness.

Barcelon has emphasized the importance of IP for businesses’ to become competitive.

“Companies have become more mindful of innovation and are now always on the lookout for strategies to succeed. IP is important to achieve this goal as it protects an asset that may be integral to the overall and long term viability of a business,” Barcelon said.

Anton Sayo, chairman of the PCCI’s IP committee, said that increasing costs, inaccessibility, and excessive time in processing are the issues that continue to pose challenges to the country’s IP sector.

Sayo pointed out that assistance would be needed including the involvement of local government units (LGUs) in the implementation of programs to raise awareness, particularly among small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

In addition, legislation and development of curriculum in public universities, especially, in science, technology, engineering and math courses are seen to help instill the importance of IP.

For his part, Willimott expressed WIPO’s willingness to work with the PCCI in raising IP awareness and understanding.

“The long term engagements include working with relevant agencies to add innovation components to school curriculum, similar to how the WIPO academy develops its curriculum. The short term, on the other hand, involves capacitating businesses on brand protection, particularly, among the SMEs,” Willimott said.

Both parties agreed to conduct webinars that will cover topics like brand protection, ensuring IP protection online and business expansion in the digital world.

In terms of legislation, Barcelon said urging the IP Office of the Philippines to introduce and lobby for the Geographical Indication (GI) law in Congress would have positive outcomes for various sectors like agriculture, arts and crafts, and tourism.

GIs are signs used on products with a specific geographical origin and have qualities or a reputation due to that origin. Characteristics attributed to the origin or where the product is sourced or made include the soil, climate, skills, traditions and practices of the community.

Currently, GIs are protected under the trademarks section of the IP Code as collective marks.

In the past, the country’s largest business organization has worked with WIPO in the conduct of events aimed to inform micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) how they can protect their brand and avoid becoming victims of malicious cybercrimes.