House Consolidates Bills to Amend and Modernize the Intellectual Property Code

The House of Representatives ("HoR") Committee on Trade and Industry created a technical working group ("TWG") to consolidate House Bill Nos. 8062, 1597 and 8620 which all aim to modernise the Intellectual Property ("IP") Code in accordance with global trends and international standards. The TWG agreed to use House Bill No. 8620 as its working draft which reflects the proposed priority amendments of the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines ("IPOPHL"). 

For enforcement and adjudication, salient proposed amendments include:

1. the imposition of steeper fines for infringers;
2. the power of the IPOPHL to order the takedown of websites with infringing material;
3. the removal of the PHP200,000 damage claim threshold so that even claims falling below such amount may be adjudicated by IPOPHL;
4. the recognition of alternative dispute resolution mechanisms as official modes for dispute settlement; and
5. the institutionalisation of the IP Rights Enforcement Office.

 For patents, significant proposed amendments include:

1. the establishment of a parallel-protection system, which would allow inventors to file a utility model ("UM") simultaneously with their registration for a patent grant for the same invention;


2. the grant of provisional patents which would provide immediate protection for patent applications on the date of filing, even while inventors are making refinements and studying commercial viability;


3. the alignment of the definition of "industrial design" with the Trade-Related Aspects of the IP Rights Agreement; and


4. the protection for partial designs or designs that make part of a certain product or article. Since the duration for UM applications are shorter compared to an exhaustive patent application, investors will already be able to commercialise their works in the meantime and while waiting for a chance at a patent.

 Other priority amendments include:

1. the protection for non-visual (i.e., sound) marks and certification marks under the trademark regime;


2. the extension of collective licensing and expansion of the limitations for copyright;


3. the transfer of the registration and deposit function for copyright works from the National Library and its centralisation in IPOPHL to avoid confusion; and


4. the creation of the Bureau of Innovation and Business Development and institutionalisation of the IP Academy to promote innovation, creativity, and research.