IPOPHL to enforce mandatory mediation

THE Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL) said on Monday that it recently issued Memorandum Circular for intellectual property cases (IP cases) starting

In a statement, IPO Philippines said the mediation of IP cases would be mandatory for administrative complaints for intellectual property rights violations and/or unfair competition, inter partes cases, disputes involving technology transfer payments, disputes relating to terms of a license involving author’s rights to public performance of other communication of his work,

Director General from the decisions of the Bureau of Copyright and Other Related Rights, the Bureau of Legal Affairs and the Documentation, Information and Technology Transfer Bureau.

The move, it said, will ensure a quicker, more cost-effective and more amicable means of resolving IP disputes.

Currently, when a case is received by any of the bureaus and an answer

General, IPOPHL applies mandatory referral to mediation, giving the parties a chance to resolve the

IPO Philippines said however that even if the referral to mediation is mandatory, the mediation itself is not. According to the Bureau of Legal Affairs which manages the mediation system, only half of the cases referred to mediation actually proceed.

“Right now the yearly average of cases that accept mediation is 40 to 45 percent of intellectual property disputes. If they don’t accept mediation, they return to litigation and that process is quite long not to mention expensive,” said IPOPHL director general Josephine R. Santiago.

In the litigation route, the losing party may also appeal the decision

Director of the Bureau of Legal Affairs, whose decision in turn is appealable to the Director General.

The process could go all the way to the Supreme Court.

“In mediation, the resolution is arrived at by the parties them-

received. In litigation, a judge or a and makes a decision to favor one

The 2019 goal was revised by the DBCC in July from 3.0 percent previously.

“To me the targets are reasonable. We are not extravagant,” Diokno said, adding that the current goals were appropriate amid the government’s plan to raise infrastructure spending to over 5 percent of GDP by 2022. or another, and only awards the winner.

In mediation, they can make a compromise agreement with mu-

value here,” said Santiago.

IPO said majority of the cases referred to mandatory mediation are IPCs or opposition cases relating to trademark.

Data from the Bureau of Legal Affairs showed there were a total of 2,063 IP cases referred to mediation from 2011 to August 2018. Of the total, 1,150 cases underwent mediation which translates to an acceptance rate of 55.7 percent.

Data from the bureau showed out of the 1,150 cases, 1,140 completed the process of mediation. The settlement rate or when the parties reach a compromise agreement however is only at 42.9 percent (489 cases out of the 1,140).

The BLA hopes that with mandatory mediation, the settlement rate can improve,” IPO Philippines said.

billion as of end-August, higher than the P176.2 billion recorded in the comparative 2017 period but still well below the full-year target.

- cit targets, the DBCC also trimmed its imports and exports growth assumptions to 10 percent and 9 percent, from 11 percent and 10 percent previously, when it last met in July.