Annual Technical Report on Patent Information Activities in 2024 submitted by Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines

I. GENERAL OVERVIEW OF RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN PATENT INFORMATION ACTIVITIES CARRIED OUT BY THE OFFICE

Information on the following topics is desired:

Recent years have seen a dynamic and positive trajectory for patent and intellectual property (IP) activities in the Philippines. The Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL) has been at the forefront of a nationwide push to foster a culture of innovation and IP protection. A key development has been the significant and sustained growth in Patent grants indicating a heightened awareness and appreciation for the value of intellectual property among Filipinos. Through the Innovation and Technology Support Office (ITSO) network, IP is becoming more deeply integrated in academic and research institutions. These ITSOs, located in higher education institutions around the nation, have developed into essential centers for the drafting of patents, the distribution of patent information, and the filing of IP applications, therefore democratizing access to the patent system.

Furthermore, IPOPHL has been proactive in its international engagements, ensuring that the Philippine patent system is harmonized with global standards. This includes its role as an International Searching Authority and International Preliminary Examining Authority (ISA/IPEA), which allows Filipino inventors to more easily seek patent protection in multiple jurisdictions.

Another major goal is the continuous digitization and improvement of online services to make IP registration and maintenance more convenient, efficient, and user-friendly for all Filipinos, regardless of location. This covers online facilities for filing patents, utility models, industrial designs, and trademarks. The IPOPHL - Bureau of Patents (BOP) carried out patent information activities such as various seminars and trainings on patents, the Greentech Program Launch, as well as related information and communication technology (ICT) practices, such as a comparative study on AI technologies and ICT or AI training for examiners.

Patent filings dipped by 8% to 4,172 from 4,530 in 2024. Pharmaceutical was the leading field of technology, followed by organic fine chemistry, biotechnology, basic materials chemistry, and digital communication. Further, patent grants increased by 30%, reaching 2,063 from 1,583 the previous year.

For more detailed information, the official IPOPHL website serves as the main portal for news, updates, and access to e-services. The site's transparency page contains annual reports and other publications that provide deeper insights into the office's activities and performance.

Patent Statistics:

II. SERVICES AND ACTIVITIES RELATED TO PATENT INFORMATION CARRIED OUT BY THE OFFICE 

Information on the following topics is desired:

The IPOPHL has embraced digital solutions to streamline processes and enhance accessibility for all applicants. On 01 September 2020, IPOPHL implemented that all filings, submissions, and payments shall be done online through IPOPHL’s online portal. Only applications exceeding 250 pages and payments of One Hundred Thousand Pesos (Php 100,000.00) and above per transaction shall be accepted at the IPOPHL Main Office.

The IPOPHL website provides information on the filing of online applications and in-person applications.

Direct Route filing: https://www.ipophil.gov.ph/patent/filing/

Invention Registration Process Overview: https://www.ipophil.gov.ph/invention-registration-process-overview/

PCT International Phase and National Phase filing: https://www.ipophil.gov.ph/patent-cooperation-treaty-filing/

Information regarding the International Phase of PCT application: https://www.ipophil.gov.ph/help-and-support/international-phase-patent-cooperation-treaty-faq/

Information regarding the National Phase of PCT application: https://www.ipophil.gov.ph/help-and-support/national-phase-patent-cooperation-treaty-faq/

FAQs: https://www.ipophil.gov.ph/help-and-support/

IPOPHIL also provides online support through social media applications. A chat button is available on the lower right corner of the IPOPHL website for a quick chat.

• Availability of the application dossier in electronic form.

The patent application is published on the IPOPHL E-Gazette together with a search document established by or on behalf of the IPOPHL citing any relevant document or documents that reflect prior art.

Link: https://www.ipophil.gov.ph/reference/notice-of-publication/

A complete application dossier is not available publicly. Under the IP Code, only the application as filed and the patent as granted are made available.

• Classification², preclassification³ (if applicable), reclassification⁴   activities; classification system used (e.g., International Patent  Classification (IPC)), matters concerning indexing of patent information

IPOPHL classifies patent application publications according to the latest version of the International Patent Classification (IPC) at the time of classification and search. The selection of a primary classification of a patent application publication is based on the application's inventive concept using the claims as a guide.

• Abstracting, reviewing, and translation of the information contained in patent documents

If in relation to conducting patent examination: https://www.ipophil.gov.ph/patent/patent-examination-guidelines//

• Other activities 

IP Training and Assistance Programs:

The information on IPOPHL’s capacity-building and skills-upgrading programs in specific areas of IP is provided on the website.

Link: https://www.ipophil.gov.ph/intellectual-property-training-and-assistance-programs/

Innovation & Technology Support Office (ITSO):

The Innovation and Technology Support Offices (ITSO) Program conceptualized and launched in 2012 is a network of patent libraries across the Philippines particularly in areas with high potential for patent activities. It is composed of academic institutions with Science and Technology fields that generate technologies as well as other public and private organizations.

Link: https://www.ipophil.gov.ph/innovation-technology-support-office-itso/

Inventor’s Assistance Program:

The IAP is a program of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and the World Economic Forum (WEF) which matches developing country inventors and small businesses having limited financial means with patent attorneys who provide pro bono legal assistance to secure patent protection (free legal advice on how to file a patent to protect their inventions).

Eligible inventors and small businesses seeking patent protection in the Philippines may receive free legal advice from IP lawyers.

Link: https://www.ipophil.gov.ph/inventor-assistance-program/

Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH):

The IPOPHL currently operates the PPH on a bilateral basis with the Japan Patent Office (JPO) since 2012, with the United States Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO) since 2013, the Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) since 2015, and the European Patent Office (EPO) since 2017. All these PPH Bilateral Programs are extended for an indefinite period.

Link: https://www.ipophil.gov.ph/patent-prosecution-highway-pph/

ASEAN Patent Cooperation (ASPEC):

The ASEAN Patent Examination Co-operation (ASPEC) is the first regional patent work-sharing programme among nine participating ASEAN Member States (AMS) IP Offices of Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Viet Nam.

Link: https://www.ipophil.gov.ph/asean-patent-cooperation-aspec/

Juana Patent and Juana Design Protection (JPIP):

The Juana Patent and Juana Design Protection (JPIP) waive certain fees in favor of 50 inventions, 150 utility models, and 150 industrial designs that are qualified. Beneficiaries will also enjoy prioritized and fast-tracked processing of their applications under the JPIP. To qualify for the program, the individual, MSME, or start-up must be engaged in business activity/ies considered as DTI / IPOPHL priority sectors and must pass a set of criteria.

Link: https://www.ipophil.gov.ph/juana-patent-and-juana-design-protection-incentive-program/

Youth Intellectual Property Incentive (YIPI) Program:

The Youth Intellectual Property Incentive (YIPI) Program is an incentive program that will support and encourage young creators to build a more progressive and inclusive future in the Philippines’ innovation landscape.

Link: https://www.ipophil.gov.ph/youth-intellectual-property-incentive-yipi-program/

III. SOURCES OF PATENT INFORMATION PROVIDED BY THE OFFICE

Information on the following topics is desired:

• Main types of publications of the Office (patent applications, full text, first pages, abstracts, bibliographic data, granted patents, etc.), medium (on paper, on CDs, online – URLs)

Below is the URL of published gazettes provided through the Internet. The Official Gazette is published three (3) times/week (Monday, Wednesday, and Friday).

URL: https://onlineservices.ipophil.gov.ph/patgazette/

• • Official Gazettes:  main types of announcements, frequency of publication, medium (on paper, on CDs, online – URL), etc.
    • Online:
      • Patent eGazette
        • https://onlineservices.ipophil.gov.ph/patgazette/
          • List of published patent (1^st and 2^nd publication), Lapsed patents, Expired inventions, Notice of Non-payment of annuities
          • frequency of publication – three (3) times a week

• Information products and patent document collections (coverage, medium, etc.) available to examiners, including external collections and databases
• Patent databases and Non-Patent databases:

1. 1. 1. Publicly available databases such as: (i) OPSIN (Open Parser for Systematic IUAPAC nomenclature); (ii) NCBI (National Centre for Biotechnology Information); (iii) EMBL- EBI (European Molecular Biology Laboratory - European Bioinformatics Institute) forsequence listing search; (iv) 3GPP (Telecommunication Technologies); (v) WIPO Case; and (vi) Patent Scope;
      2. Databases such as PubMed which provides non-patent articles in chemistry, molecular biology and other preclinical sciences, and The Lens for comprehensive DNA and protein sequence search;
      3. IPOPHL IPDL (Industrial Property Digital Library) and IPOPHL's internal database IPAS (Industrial Property Automation System); and,
      4. National patent databases of other IP Offices such as USPTO, J-PATPLAT, AUSPAT, Espacenet, and AIPN;
      5. EPOQUENet, STNext, IEEE Digital Xplore, Scopus and Science Direct; and
      6. Commercial search platform Thomson Innovation which covers Derwent World Patent

• Index (DWPI);WIPO Publish

1. 1. 1. https://wipopublish.ipophil.gov.ph/wopublish-search/public/patents
      2. Published 1957 - current

• Information products and patent document collections (coverage, medium, etc.) available to external users, conditions of access (e.g., free of charge, subscription, etc.)

• • In-house databases:

1. 1. 1. IPOPHL has developed and used Internal Examination tools (e.g., IPAS, IPOPHL Patent Search) to assist Examiners with searching patent information

• • Commercial Databases:

1. 1. 1. IPOPHL uses proprietary search tools, including Epoquenet and STN. Examiners also use free patent examination tools, including Espacenet, Lens. Org, J-platpat, KIPRIS, SIPO, EAPO, USPTO, WIPO, and Google Patent. Further, Examiners use a non-patent literature database available on the internet (e.g, IEEE, Science Direct, Scopus, and Google Scholar).
      2. WIPO Publish – free of charge

• Information products and patent document collections (coverage, medium, etc.) available to external users, conditions of access (e.g., free of charge, subscription, etc.)

Intellectual property databases such as IPOPHL Patent Search and E-gazette are accessible on the webpage of IPOPHL free of charge.

URL: https://www.ipophil.gov.ph/patent/

• Legal status information (kind of information, coverage, medium, etc.)

• • WIPO Publish – free of charge
  • Legal status information of applications filed in January 1950 onwards can be searched on the IPAS by using document numbers such as file type, file series, file number, and registration numbers.

IV. ICT SUPPORT TO SERVICES AND ACTIVITIES RELATED TO PATENT INFORMATION CARRIED OUT BY THE OFFICE

Information on the following topics is desired:

• Specific software tools supporting business procedures within the Office:  general description, characteristics, advantages, possible improvements.

• • IPOPHL uses commercial search tools EPOQUE Net, STN, ScienceDirect, and Scopus to search databases such as EPODOC, full text patent databases and many non-patent literature databases. Examiners also use free patent and non-patent literature databases available on the internet such as Espacenet, Google Patents, Patent Lens, Patentscope, J-PlatPat, etc.
  • IPOPHL has used internal examination tools including IPOPHL Patent Search or WIPO Publish https://wipopublish.ipophil.gov.ph/wopublish-search/public/patents?query=OFCO:PH) to assist Examiners with searching patent information.
  • Online Application portal for self-filers to file applications: (https://onlineservices.ipophil.gov.ph/EInventionfile/)
  • Industrial Property Administration System (IPAS) is the primary tool for managing examiner workflow for both local and foreign filed direct route applications as well as PCT national phase entry applications.

The Office's publication system provides the following functions:

• • Production of the patent applications published with search report;
  • Production of patent certificates and original register entries; and
  • Production of notices for patent applicants or their agents.

(https://onlineservices.ipophil.gov.ph/patgazette/)

• Other tools supporting the business procedures:
  • WIPO IPAS supports the end-to-end processing of patent applications
  • WIPO Publish supports the patent search tool for published applications
  • eGazette supports the publication of applications integrated to WIPO IPAS
  • eInv and eUM supports the online filing of inventions and utility models applications integrated to WIPO IPAS
  • eDoc Patents supports the online filing of subsequent communication, e.g responses, requests, annual fees, etc.
  • eCorrespondence supports the electronic sending of communications/ correspondence to applicants/filers/representatives
  • Internal Statistics supports the monitoring of information concerning examiner’s performance, number of filings/grants, etc.

• eFull Doc Patents supports the preparation of final patent documents upon publication or grant of patent applications
• eCertificate supports the issuance of electronic copy of Patent Certificate with a verifiable QR Code

• Hardware used to supporting business processes of the Office

• • IPOPHL uses commercial desktops with Windows 10 and laptops with Windows 11 Operating system and MS Office 2010 for desktops and MS Office 2016 and 2019 for laptops.

• Internal databases:  coverage, updates, interlinks with external sources

• • The primary system IPOPHL uses is the IPAS 3.6. It is a Java-based application using Windows as server and MSQL as the relational database. On the other hand, EDMS uses WIPO Publish.

• Establishment and maintenance of electronic search file:  file building, updating, storage, documents from other offices included in the search file

• • The IPOPHL patent examiners are allowed to access the latest electronic search file, especially examination reports from other offices, on an on-demand basis by connecting to various databases, including Epoque Net, WIPO CASE, EPO Global Dossier, AIPN, and others.

• Administrative management electronic systems (register, legal status, statistics, and administrative support)

• • IPOPHL used third-party software, namely Tableau, Cognos and ASP Report maker to generate statistics in IPAS. The Office has also developed its own statistics website for internal purposes.

• • • IP Statistics: https://www.ipophil.gov.ph/reference/statistics/
    • IP Help & Support: https://www.ipophil.gov.ph/help-and-support/

V. PROMOTION ACTIVITIES AIMED TO SUPPORT USERS IN ACCESS AND EFFICIENT USE OF PATENT INFORMATION

Information on the following topics is desired:

• Education and training:  training courses, e learning modules (URLs), seminars, exhibitions, etc.

There were 61 patent-related training sessions (basic, patent information search, patent writing, paper B) delivered to academic institutions (ITSOs and non-ITSOs), RDIs, MSMEs, startups, and relevant government organizations. The establishment of patent libraries within ITSOs was included in the 2024 ITSO clustering recommendations. As previously mentioned, nine patent libraries were formed. IPOPHL also developed two patent landscape reports on Meat Detection Technologies and AI-Driven Innovation in Agriculture. Below were the specific training courses conducted:

• Advanced Patent Drafting Workshop - The Bureau of Patents serves as the lead resource in the conduct of Advanced Patent Drafting Workshops for both Innovation and Technology Support Offices (ITSOs) and non-ITSO institutions. These workshops are tailored to enhance the technical drafting skills of researchers, faculty members, and technology transfer officers, enabling them to transform R&D outputs into high-quality patent applications. The BOP provides in-depth lectures, hands-on exercises, and one-on-one feedback on patent claim drafting and specification writing.

• Retooling on Online Patent Filing for Stakeholders - In support of digital transformation and improved accessibility, the BOP has conducted retooling sessions on online patent filing systems for various stakeholders. These trainings introduce users to IPOPHL’s electronic filing tools and guide applicants—particularly first-time filers—on the proper submission of invention, utility model, and design applications through IPOPHL’s digital platforms. This initiative enhances user efficiency and encourages wider adoption of online filing systems.

• Capacity Building for IP Professionals - BOP examiners and officials regularly serve as resource speakers and facilitators for key learning programs such as the IPOPHL Summer School, and the Patent Attorneys Training Course (PAPATC). Through these programs, participants gain foundational and advanced understanding of the Philippine patent system, including filing requirements, substantive examination procedures, patent search tools, and legal frameworks. These activities help build a pipeline of qualified patent professionals in the country.

• Seminars on Patent Laws, Examination Procedures, and BOP-Led Programs - The Bureau also conducts targeted seminars and orientation sessions on patent laws, regulations, and examination procedure and presentation of specialized BOP-led programs such as:
  • Juana Patent – supporting women inventors and innovators
  • YIPI (Youth Intellectual Property Incentive Program) encouraging innovation and patent awareness among youth
  • GreenTech – prioritizing the examination of environmentally beneficial technologies
  • SciTech Superhighway Program – providing expedited processing of patent applications in the fields of science, technology, and engineering that are aligned with national development priorities

These programs reflect BOP’s commitment to promoting inclusive and strategic innovation, while also responding to pressing challenges such as climate change, youth engagement, and technological advancement. Through these strategic initiatives, the Bureau of Patents continues to champion innovation by strengthening the technical capacity, procedural knowledge, and access to patent-related services for a wide range of stakeholders across the Philippines.

VI. INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION ACTIVITIES IN THE FIELD OF PATENT INFORMATION

Information on the following topics is desired:

• International exchange and sharing of patent information in machine-readable form, e.g., priority documents, bibliographic data, abstracts, search reports, full text information
• WIPO Publish (WIPO Publish (ipophil.gov.ph)
• International best practice sharing:

Primer for Patent Analytics for IP Offices, Singapore, June 2024

• Introduction and Insights on Patent Analytics
• Building Patent Analytics Capabilities in IP Offices

First Patent Analytics Community of Practice (CoP) Annual Symposium, Geneva, September 2024

• Collaborative approach to patent analytics and the development of patent landscape report

• Participation in international or regional activities and projects related to patent information

• • PCT WG
  • USPTO Designation of IPOPHL as an ISA/IPEA
  • Learning Management System (LMS) for Patent Examiners’ Trainings
  • ASEAN-JPO Design Training Program for ASEAN IP Academy
  • IPOPHL-TIPO Bilateral Consultation on Patent Examination Practices
  • Substantive Examination for ICT in Agriculture Technologies
  • Examination Guidelines on Invention, UM and ID Involving GRTKTCE and IKSP
  • GRTK Diplomatic conference

• Assistance to developing countries

• • Capacity building and training of Brunei IPO examiners on patent examination which will start in August 2025.
  • Proposed capacity building and training for IPD Myanmar candidate examiners, this collaboration in still in the discussion phase.

VII. ACTIVITIES RELATING TO THE IMPLEMENTATION OF WIPO STANDARDS CONCERNING PATENT INFORMATION

• The implementation status of WIPO Standards listed in the template and any relevant details regarding their implementation. 

(a) WIPO Standard ST.26 - Presentation Of Nucleotide And Amino Acid Sequence Listings Using Xml (Extensible Markup Language) – Implemented for PCT International Applications.

(b) WIPO Standard ST.37 - Authority File of Published Documents – Ongoing preparation of Authority Files (AF)

(c) WIPO Standard ST.96 - Processing Of Intellectual Property Information Using Xml (Extensible Markup Language – implemented in all data exchange

VIII. OTHER RELATED MATTERS

Please include any other relevant information here.

1.Classification is allotting one or more classification symbols (e.g., IPC symbols) to a patent application, either before or during search and examination, which symbols are then published with the patent application.

2. Preclassification is allotting an initial broad classification symbol (e.g., IPC class or subclass, or administrative unit) to a patent application, using human or automated means for internal administrative purposes (e.g., routing an application to the appropriate examiner).  Usually preclassification is applied by the administration of an office.

3. Reclassification is the reconsideration and usually the replacement of one or more previously allotted classification symbols to a patent document, following a revision and the entry into force of a new version of the Classification system (e.g., the IPC).  The new symbols are available on patent databases.