March 2021 | International Law Alerts | Intellectual Property

 

The World Trade Organization faces calls led by India and South Africa to waive intellectual property (IP) rights for Covid-19 vaccines — a notion fiercely rejected by pharmaceutical giants and their host countries.

To help address the rise of online counterfeiting and piracy, e-commerce platforms Lazada and Shopee signed on March 1, 2021 a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with several global and local brand owners and business associations to build a stronger industry-wide coordination mechanism.

New rules at the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL), which took effect on Wednesday, have expanded the powers of its Intellectual Property Rights Enforcement Office (IEO), enabling it to more effectively curb online counterfeiting and piracy.

The Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL) has extended until Dec. 31, 2021 its Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) Filing Assistance Program to benefit more inventors exploring opportunities in global markets.

The Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL) has officially opened National Intellectual Property (IP) Month 2021, a celebration which the agency is dedicating to micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), particularly in enabling them to integrate IP into their business strategy and realize their competitiveness in the pandemic and beyond.

In a bid to pursue a more active role in the global innovation system, the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL), in collaboration with the Japan Patent Office (JPO), held last week a virtual training for patent examiners to expand their knowledge in artificial intelligence (AI) which is becoming a game-changer technology in various sectors around the world.

As intellectual property (IP) filings dropped in 2020 amid COVID-19 challenges, the IP Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL) recently held a dialogue with partners in the academe, urging them to fuel the recovery of filings by focusing this year on commercializing fresh innovations.

Reports filed at the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL) have led to the recent seizure of over 600 allegedly counterfeit Louis Vuitton (LV) goods sold by the Direk Paul’s Classroom Facebook page––a seizure operation that went viral online as it took place in the middle of a live selling event with hundreds of viewers.

With the inception of Republic Act 11337 better known as the Innovative Startup Act, entrepreneurs can finally find government support to help them jumpstart their innovative ideas and have their dreams come true.

The Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL) recently upgraded its mediation service by mandating proceedings to be conducted entirely online while reviving the “WIPO Option” which is seen to be advantageous to parties involved in cross-border intellectual property (IP) disputes.