On the heels of a South African law regulating IP from that country’s publicly funded research (see this article), the newly enacted Philippine Technology Transfer Act of 2009 also is expected to hasten the process of technology commercialization and broaden the scope of protection for IP rights in the island nation’s government R&D institutions (RDIs) when it takes effect later this year. “We are optimistic that this new law, a landmark policy on technology transfer, will revolutionize the commercialization of technologies generated by research funded by taxpayers’ money,” says the Philippine government’s Science Secretary Estrella Alabastro.
According to a document released by the Philippines Department of Science and Technology (DOST), the initiative was needed because the existing tech transfer system is characterized by a lack of well-defined and unifying policy, insufficient investment, weak private-public collaboration in R&D and commercialization, and insufficient IP support in RDIs. Such conditions have resulted in a low rate of patent application in the Philippines. Despite the enactment of the country’s IP Code in 1998, RDIs have lacked well-defined IP policies and support systems to protect and utilize their IP. According to DOST, of 2,972 patent applications filed in 2005, only 210 were by local researchers. Of these, only 15 local patents were granted and only one patent was granted for an RDI. These trends were repeated in 2006 and 2007.
The new law is designed to help take technologies to market, to prevent the “brain drain” of science and technology professionals out of the Philippines, and to encourage students to pursue R&D studies. A key provision in the law offers incentives to researchers by providing them with a share in royalties from their inventions and allowing them to launch their own start-ups. The law also provides a national framework to promote efficient and coordinated tech transfer — similar to the Bayh-Dole Act in the U.S. DOST and the Philippines Intellectual Property Office are preparing for the bill’s implementation.
Source: Business Mirror