The Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL) highlighted its performance and best practices in patent search at the recently concluded 60th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) – Intellectual Property Rights Experts Group (APEC-IPEG) Meeting in Gyeongju, Republic of Korea. The presentation was part of the worksharing activity IPOPHL co-sponsored with the United States Patent Office (USPTO).
As a co-sponsor of the workshop on “Enhancing Innovation with More Efficient Patent Systems: Worksharing, Tools and Resources,” the Philippines, through the Bureau of Patents of IPOPHL, showcased its search tools that PH examiners use in their examination work and how IPOPHL conducts patent search.
The presentation demonstrated the use of the BOP of various patent databases and digital libraries that allow it to conduct a robust and advanced search on patents filed and registered globally, as well as all the other non-patent literatures, scientific journals and publications. A prior art search—the process of searching for existing patents, publications or other available documents that are relevant to the patentability evaluation of an invention—was also demonstrated during the presentation.
In the presentation delivered by Bureau of Patents Assistant Director Cristina De Guzman, it was also emphasized that IPOPHL obtained high quality compliance rating for its patent search reports issued in 2024, reaching 99.68%, for the reports reviewed under its Patent Quality Management System, a system designed to guarantee that the quality of patents issued by IPOPHL upholds rigorous review and assessment processes and adheres to international best practices.
“The majority of its patent search reports were found to be of very high quality when reviewed, indicating that IPOPHL has a strong track record of producing accurate and reliable patent reports,” De Guzman said.
In addition to leading the workshop with the USPTO on sharing search tools and patent search best practices, IPOPHL also participated actively during the 60th APEC-IPEG Meeting. Some of these include sharing updates on the Guidebook on Digital Enforcement to Improve Fight Trademark Counterfeiting (the development of which IPOPHL co-sponsored with Peru) and reaffirming its commitment to ensure IP remains central in the discussions on free trade area, as outlined in the Ichma Statement which is one of the documents APEC leaders signed last year at 31st APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting.
“The Philippines will continue to support enhancing information sharing, capacity building and technical cooperation efforts in support of member economies’ readiness for each undertaking. IPOPHL reaffirms its commitment to advancing IP protection, commercialization and enforcement in realizing APEC’s agenda on inclusive prosperity and fulfilling the region’s vision as a key growth driver in global trade,” Director General Brigitte M. da Costa-Villaluz said.
