The Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL) recently assisted several producers in Benguet to take a step toward registering their distinct local products as geographical indications (GIs) for greater marketability and higher global reach.
“This workshop aims to help you brand your products and services with more impact and recall in the market, especially in the international market where products with quality and a good story thrive. And you can achieve this with GI protection,” Bureau of Trademarks (BOT) Director Jesus Antonio Z. Ros told representatives of different Baguio-based industries at a one-day workshop held in April.
A GI is a community-owned protectible mark used on a product that has qualities, reputation and characteristics attributable to the place where it is made or produced.
“While IPOPHL is really looking at the potential of your strawberries, cacao, coffee and handicrafts, goods for which Benguet is really known for, you are still the best authority to identify the highest quality goods that can be covered by GI,” Ros added.
At the workshop, titled “Origin-Based Branding of Benguet Products and Services,” Ros enumerated a number of successful case studies on potential GI goods, such as the Guimaras Mangoes which helped producers see their profits soar after securing its quality seal in the form of a collective mark.
He also explained the process toward GI protection, including the organization of a group, association or federation, who will be the rightful registrant of the GI under the current legal regime.
Ros also discussed the drafting of the Code of Practice, which will lay down the standard production method and processes to preserve the integrity and quality of the GI product. The GI group owner must also identify the specific kinds of goods which will be covered by the Code of Practice.
The recent GI workshop, held in collaboration with the Department of Trade and Industry in Benguet, is part of the BOT’s broader work to promote GI and collective mark protection as effective branding strategies.
The BOT has already mapped out several potential GIs across the country, including the famous Guimaras Mangoes, the Tau Sebu T’nalak and the Cordillera Heirloom Rice, which are all registered as collective marks.
Others are the Bicol Pili; Davao Pomelo; Camiguin Lanzones; Davao Cacao; Kalinga Coffee; Antique’s Bagtason Loom; Aurora’s Sabutan Weave; Samar’s Basey Banig; and Basilan and Zamboanga’s Yakan cloth.
The workshop was attended by strawberry producers, Inabel fabric weavers, cocoa farmers and chocolate producers.
The industry representatives, with guidance of BOT’s trademark examiners, were able to come up with a detailed description of their goods and a rough outline of their Codes of Practice.
“We hope to progress fast in the next few months. While in other countries, the work toward GI registration takes two to three years, we hope to make this much shorter so we can better promote our local goods and help producers rise above the pandemic’s economic challenges as soon as possible,” Director General Rowel S. Barba said.
The promotion of GI and collective marks is in parallel with IPOPHL’s efforts to finalize the implementing rules and regulations for the protection of local GI goods.
“We hope by the time the GI rules are ready, Benguet’s GI product will also be ready to bring pride and a better source of livelihood to the province,” Barba added.
