Manila: Officials of the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL) and the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on Monday to strengthen the intellectual property system in support of connectivity goals.

According to Philippines News Agency, the MOU will enhance IPOPHL's capacity to assess new innovations and maintain efficiency, timeliness, and quality in patent services, providing innovators with greater certainty from concept to deployment, as stated by Acting Director General Nathaniel Arevalo.

The agreement will enable IPOPHL and DICT to upgrade the technical skills of examiners and personnel evaluating innovations in artificial intelligence (AI), blockchain, Internet of Things, big data, and other emerging ICT fields. Acting Director Arevalo emphasized the importance of this initiative not only as a national office but also in its role as an International Searching Authority and International Preliminary Examining Authority, providing inventors early insights into the strength of their inventions before seeking patent protection internationally.

DICT Secretary Henry Rhoel Aguda highlighted that the partnership aims to equip IP personnel with current ICT skills. He noted that by integrating digital technology with IP protection, an environment fostering Filipino ingenuity is being created. The government aims to have about eight million digital and digitally enabled workers in sectors such as e-commerce, AI, and blockchain, all safeguarded by strong intellectual property measures.

Secretary Aguda encouraged inventors to register their innovations with IPOPHL to protect their creations, highlighting the government's active search for Filipino-made solutions to propel digital transformation. "Digital transformation para sa (for the) Filipino, gawa ng (made by) the Filipino," Aguda remarked.