The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) has commended the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL) under the leadership of Director General Rowel S. Barba for expanding IPOPHL’s transformative role in the ASEAN region and contributing significantly to global efforts geared towards innovation and creativity.
In a side meeting last week, officials and representatives from IPOPHL, the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Philippine Embassy in Riyadh met with the WIPO team led by its Director General Daren Tang. IPOPHL and WIPO looked into the current course of their collaboration and charted the way forward to expand areas of cooperation.
During the dialogue, Tang commended Barba’s leadership not only as head of an IP office but for his chairmanship in the ASEAN Working Group on Intellectual Property Cooperation (AWGIPC).
Tang noted that Barba impressively steered the WIPO-ASEAN partnership towards increased collaboration, leading to meaningful outcomes that helped raise IP awareness, protection and enforcement in the region.
It may be recalled that Barba sat at the helm of the AWGIPC in 2021. He made an indelible brand of leadership in the ASEAN by accelerating the completion of deliverables laid out in the ASEAN IP Rights Action Plan 2016-2025. He also set out the preparations for updating the roadmap to help the region cope with the challenges of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, as well as embrace its opportunities.
Through his three-point AIM strategy—which stands for “Accelerating the completion of deliverables,” “Intensifying coordination” and “Modernizing processes through digital transformation”—Barba helped resolve bottlenecks to achieving shared goals. His leadership led to the completion of 75% of the 57 deliverables in the bloc’s 10-year roadmap, a remarkable jump from just 38% when he took office at the AWGIPC.
Aside from the AWGIPC, Barba also made significant waves of change as head of the ASEAN Network of IP Enforcement Experts (ANIEE) and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation’s IP Rights Experts Group (APEC-IPEG).
In ANIEE, Barba enabled deeper coordination among enforcement authorities across ASEAN member states and helped enhance enforcement capabilities in disrupting counterfeit trade and online piracy.
But it was in the broader APEC region that Barba truly expanded IPOPHL’s regional role. He championed inclusive discussions, amplifying the voice of underrepresented groups and developing workable outcomes to boost innovation and creativity in APEC with the member’s level of development in mind.
Looking at IPOPHL’s recent efforts beyond ASEAN, WIPO’s Tang also commended the Philippines’ cooperation in the multilateral system. Particularly, he noted IPOPHL’s active participation in the May 2024 negotiations on the Treaty on IP, genetic resources and traditional knowledge associated with genetic resources, which led to a historic consensus to adopt the treaty.
Tang expressed hopes in seeing the same level of dedication from IPOPHL in positively concluding the negotiations for the Design Law Treaty (DLT) which are currently ongoing in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
For his part, Barba assured of IPOPHL’s commitment to the DLT, noting the significant benefits Filipino designers could gain from the treaty.
Barba also expressed his gratitude to Tang and the WIPO team for its immense support and projects implemented in the Philippines in the past years.
“We are thankful to WIPO for continuously believing in the potential of our innovators, creators and businesses. We are grateful for the confidence given to IPOPHL to deliver on its projects and programs as we ensure the maximum reach and impact of each initiative entrusted to us. With each activity we carry out with WIPO’s support, the Philippines moves more communities to building a culture of IP respect, protecting the value of IP assets and empowering societies through IP,” Barba said during the dialogue.