IPOPHL sets 2-year limit to resolve IP disputes

THE Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL) will impose a two-year time limit on the resolution of IP disputes filed with its office, a top official said.

IPOPHL Director-General Josephine R. Santiago said yesterday that the office will introduce revisions in the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) on Administrative Complaints for Violation of Law Involving Intellectual Property Rights.

The current form of the IRR sets an indefinite time for the resolution of each case. By 2017, Ms. Santiago said that IPOPHL will expedite the process.

“We will be coming up with a revised IRR limiting the litigation part into two years,” she told reporters yesterday in a media briefing.

“Perhaps that would be shorter than that of the courts. There will be certainty in years’ time, there will be a decision.”

The measure “is still being drafted. And then it will go through a consultation with the stakeholders, but definitely it’s going to be in 2017. I have no specific date but in 2017, hopefully, we’ll be able to implement the twoyear litigation period for violations of intellectual property.

While the time limit is still on the drawing boards, Ms. Santiago said that IPOPHL has already decided “in principle that’s going to be the direction.”

More details regarding the IRR will soon be fleshed out, including the contingency plan in cases which exceed the two-year period, she added. Complainants in IP violations currently have the option of either taking the matter to the court or through an administrative action in the part of the IPOPHL.

According to the 2015 annual report of IPOPHL, IP violation cases only account for a small portion or 4% of the total complaints filed with the IPOPHL. The rest are inter partes cases — which seek the resolution of various petitions such as cancellations of registered trademarks or service marks, and petitions for compulsory licensing.

IP violation cases, on the other hand, refer to unfair competition and administrative complaints that include infringement of trademarks, patents, utility models, industrial designs, copyrights and so on.

Out of the 3,016 cases in total have been filed since 2011, over 77% have been resolved, or 2,329 cases.

However, out of this number, only 158 are IP violation cases, wherein only nearly half of it or 78 complaints have been disposed of.

Apart from a move to expedite the resolution process, Ms. Santiago said that IPOPHL will also seek to expand its regional presence through branch offices, a move towards online filing, as well as initiatives to raise public awareness.

Ms. Santiago said that a lot of potential business owners are not aware that they may reserve a trademark for three years even if their business is not yet been operational. —