The Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL) reported on Monday that the volume of intellectual property (IP) applications in 2022 registered a new record high with 48,259, a 2 percent increase from the previous record-high of 47,328 in 2019.
The amount of filings in 2022 is also higher than the 46, 558 in 2021, IPOPHL said.
Individually, the agency said trademark and patent filings as well as copyright registrations, achieved “all time-highs.”
IPOPHL Director General Rowel S. Barba said the “strong uptake” in 2022 IP filings shows “how aggressive businesses are in seizing opportunities in the more upbeat economy and the digitalization of business interactions as intensified by the pandemic.”
Moreover, Barba noted the uptrend in the IP filings can be attributed to more Filipinos beginning to see the “competitive value of having a degree of control over their most prized assets: the product of their minds, their IPs.”
“More businesses and entrepreneurs are integrating IP into their strategies for success not despite the pandemic and other economic and environmental challenges in our midst but because of them,” Barba said.
As to the breakdown of IP applications, IPOPHL divulged that the lion’s share of 2022 filings were trademark applications—an indicator for business starts with the introduction of new brands. Trademark filings, it noted, reached 41,235 and grew by 4 percent year-on-year.
Of this, 25,253 or 61 percent were by residents and 39 percent of 15,982 by non-residents.
IPOPHL said bulk of trademark filings were in pharmaceutical, health and cosmetic products, with an 18.4 percent share, followed by agricultural products and services, with 16.6 percent and scientific research, information and communication technology with 14.9 percent.
Meanwhile, applications for patents, which indicate the “appetite to bring possibly commercially viable inventions to market,” booked the “fastest growth” as volumes expanded 9.3 percent to 4,403, IPOPHL noted. Non-residents accounted for 89 percent or 3,918, while 11 percent or 485 were by residents.
In terms of sectors, IPOPHL said top patent applications were in pharmaceuticals with 28.9 percent; organic fine chemistry with 12.1 percent; and digital communications with 8.3 percent.
For utility models (UMs)—a patent-like IP right to protect innovations, IPOPHL revealed that the filings declined to 1,386 from 1,615. Residents accounted for 95 percent with 1,315 counts.
According to IPOPHL, most UMs filed were in fields of food chemistry with 44.6 percent; other special machines with 8.8 percent; and basic materials chemistry with 4.9 percent.
As for Industrial Designs (ID)—an IP for protecting the three-dimensional look of a product, its filings fell to 1,235 from 1,265 with non-residents at about 55 percent or 678 of filers.
IPOPHL said the top industries for ID applications were in means of transport or hoisting, with 19.7 percent; packages and containers for the transport or handling of goods with 8.7 percent; and furnishing with 8.3 percent.
Meanwhile, IPOPHL said copyright registrations in 2022 grew by 3,706, a 73-percent jump from 2,141 in 2021, as “creators scramble to find better ways to protect their copyright in online and physical markets.”
Copyright registrations serve to “strengthen” authors’ proof of ownership over their copyright, IPOPHL said.
The agency noted that copyright registrations for 2022 were mainly driven by books, pamphlets, articles, e-books, audio books, comics, novels and other writings with 36 percent; followed by literary, scholarly, scientific and artistic works with 19.7 percent; and drawings, paintings, architectural works, sculpture, engraving, prints, lithography or other works of art, models or designs for works of art, with 8.6 percent.