The Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL) has added a new member to its Executive Committee with the recent appointment of Atty. Nathaniel S. Arevalo as its Deputy Director General.
Arevalo was previously the Director of the Bureau of Legal Affairs (BLA) for 14 years and has been with IPOPHL for nearly 25 years. He started his career in public service in 1991 with the Civil Service Commission and took the bar examinations in 1997. After one year of private law practice, he rejoined the government in 2000 through IPOPHL. He worked as head of the Legal Staff of the Office of the Director General (ODG) before being appointed as Director IV of the BLA in 2010.
Arevalo also took the lead on IP chapters in Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations, including the Philippine-European Free Trade Association FTA, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) Agreement, and the on-going ASEAN-Canada Free Trade negotiations where he sits as ASEAN Chair and Co-Chair of the Working Group on Intellectual Property.
Director General Rowel S. Barba welcomed the appointment of Arevalo who was sworn into office last April 22 by Department of Trade and Industry Fred E. Pascual.
“Atty. Nat is a dedicated public servant and has extensive experience in legal affairs, policy and legislative issues. I’m confident that with a larger role, scope and responsibility, he will deliver to push us to achieve our breakthrough goals and even beyond what is expected of us,” Barba said.