THE United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has recognized the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (Ipophl) for its growing influence in the Asia-Pacific region and its role in advancing the Asean IP Rights 10-year road map.
Under the leadership of Director General Rowel Barba, the Asean Working Group on Intellectual Property Cooperation achieved 75-percent completion rate of the road map’s deliverables, up from the 38 percent when Barba took office in 2021.
In an official letter to the Ipophl, former undersecretary of commerce for IP and Director of the USPTO Kathi Vidal recognized Barba’s leadership for positioning Ipophl as an influential IP office globally.
Vidal emphasized the progress made by the agency in securing its designation as a competent International Searching Authority and International Preliminary Examining Authority under the Patent Cooperation Treaty.
This has elevated Ipophl alongside other global IP offices including the European Patent Office, Japan Patent Office and the Korean Intellectual Property Office.
“While under your leadership, we made real progress on issues of consequence to APEC economies,” Vidal said in an official email informing of her resignation early December.
Through the three-point AIM strategy — Accelerating the completion of deliverables, Intensifying coordination and Modernizing processes through digital transformation — Ipophl has been involved in addressing bottlenecks and ensuring the timely achievement of IP goals.
Ipophl’s 75-percent completion rate of the 57 deliverables in the bloc’s 10-year road map reflect tangible impacts, Vidal said.
Barba also led significant reforms as the head of the Asean Network of IP Enforcement Experts and the APEC-IPEG wherein he strengthened coordination among enforcement agencies across Asean member states and enhanced their capacity to combat counterfeit trade and online piracy.
Be the first to comment