“Unleashing Filipino Creativity and Talent through IP Education, Training and Research”
by Adrian S. Cristobal Jr., Director General, Intellectual Property Philippines

Keynote address delivered at the “National Symposium on Intellectual Property Education, Training and Research” jointly organized by the World Intellectual Property Organization and the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines
(Dusit Hotel, Makati, Philippines; January 30-31, 2006)

INTRODUCTION

In a country beset with deeply rooted problems and challenges – political, social and economic – it is quite understandable why intellectual property is a subject far from people’s minds. A brilliant inventor won’t stand a chance against an entertainer or politician in grabbing the headlines. A trailblazing piece of research on how to turn toxins from a blowfish into an antibiotic won’t bump off a story about a congressional investigation on the front pages of newspapers. Although every now and then we read or hear about an interesting innovation or invention, only those who look at page 26 of Section C of a newspaper may get to read it. And nowhere in the article – and I have read, I think, all articles about Filipino inventions in major newspapers since February last year – is there any mention of the phrase “ intellectual property.”

The dearth of information about IP, however, is not exclusive to the public’s daily reading material. I have also read some research papers about innovations in our country, and came across one particularly informative essay about the state of technology in the country. It’s a seminal work from which I learned tremendously. But, nowhere in the entire essay is the phrase “intellectual property” mentioned.

I have talked to many users or potential users of IP the past several months and it has been quite a revelation. There were writers who produce for others without contracts to protect and profit from their copyright, small or medium sized successful entrepreneurs who didn’t register their trademark and discover that it is being copied, and CEOs of large companies (employing thousands of workers) that are part of multinational conglomerates who didn’t know that innovations of their Filipino engineers can be patented and that they could sell licenses to other companies who need them.

On the other hand, there are creators of intellectual property who are familiar with the importance of IP, but are of a different mindset or face a different set of problems. There is one noble inventor whose invention got substantial media mileage, but when we asked him to file a patent application, he refused because he said he wanted others to copy it and benefit from it. But, I’ve also met academicians and inventors who proudly tell me, and rightly so, that they have several patents under their name or research of great significance published in journals. But, when I ask them what they did after the patent was granted or the paper was published, they simply shrugged, as if to say “ that’s not relevant.” After all, the patent or publication has gained them immortality. This is not to diminish the importance of their work, but the idea is to commercialize one’s inventions. As Thomas Edison put it plainly, “the value of an idea is in the use of it.”

But, there are also inventors who know they need protection and who want to avail themselves of the incentives the IP system provides. But no Filipino investor or bank had the foresight or knowledge to support them. So instead, they seek funding from Australia, the United States, Japan or elsewhere. Next thing you know, the invention is produced in another country, creating jobs that could have gone to Filipinos here and generate wealth for our economy. There are also scientists with major breakthrough research, particularly on agriculture, from publicly funded institutions ready to commercialize their work, but their hands are tied by laws that forbid them from allowing private corporations to use their research.

These are just anecdotal evidence, I know. But, I think they give us a glimpse of the state of awareness and knowledge about IP, the rights that come along with it, and the system that manages it. The examples I mentioned show us at least three categories of our constituents: 1) Ordinary citizens are not aware of IP and its importance. 2) Many users or potential users of IP may be aware of it, but don’t know enough to make use of it. 3) And users who know about IP and want to use their IP don’t have the support of institutions in government, private sector and the laws to use their IP for their own benefit and society’s.

We all know that this has to change.

IP IN THE KNOWLEDGE BASED ECONOMY

We don’t have a choice. We live now in a knowledge economy. Bill Gates, in a recent essay in Newsweek, describes the knowledge economy this way:

As intellectual property became increasingly important to businesses, and personal computers started appearing on every desktop, employees morphed into knowledge workers, companies began to focus on knowledge management and key information was stored in knowledge bases connected – in theory – via knowledge networks. The result was the knowledge economy, a phenomenon that has transformed the business of business and helped entire emerging economies to complete globally. (“The New Road Ahead,” Newsweek, special edition, December 2005-February 2006)
Intellectual property or intangible wealth or assets is now more valuable than tangible assets such as land, factories, equipment and energy. In my recent visit to Tokyo for the “ High Level IP Policy and Strategy forum (also sponsored by WIPO and JPO), a presentation showed a comparison of the tangible and intangible assets of corporations in several countries, including Japan, the US, and UK. It showed that in the US, over 60% or 65% of assets of American corporations are not the factories or equipment, but intellectual property. The other countries showed similar shifts over the past decade.

The other enlightening evidence shown in that conference about the use of IP for economic growth and development was that in Japan and other developed countries, based on a 60 year timeline, showed that the dramatic increase in number of patents registered coincided with the sharpest rise in economic growth. This is a clear indicator of the importance of technology and intellectual property in shaping a nation’s economic development.

So fierce is the global competition in technology that the Economist declared in a special issue, that there is a new arms race in the world, not of weapons; but of patents.

Since we take pride as a people in our creativity, there’s another interesting observation by Richard Florida (George Mason University). He wrote that the “ creative-sector occupations-in science and technology, art and design, culture and entertainment – have grown since 1980 from 12 percent of the work force to between 30 and 40 percent in most advanced countries today.” He also stated, which is disturbing, that “ the poorest countries and regions around the world continue to export more than half of their scientific and engineering talent to the advanced economies, according to a recent World Bank study.” (“Minds on the Move, Newsweek, special edition, December 2005February 2006)

Hence, one of the great challenges for us is how to protect and harness the creativity and talent of our people – our nation’s intangible wealth. How do we use IP for economic growth, social development and promote our cultural heritage? There are many factors and many disciplines involved, of course. But the most important, and that which is within our capability to influence, is how to use IP education, training and research to make the IP system work to our advantage as a country.

The crucial role of education, training and research is why we are gathered here today in the first national symposium for IP education, training and research.

ROLE OF IP PHILIPPINES

Organizing this gathering is part of the work of IP Philippines in pursuit of its new vision to “ foster a creative and competitive Philippines that values, nurtures and uses IP for national development.”

This new vision, crafted last year, is shifting our organization towards a more activist posture in ensuring that the IP system promotes creativity and innovation among our artists, scientists and other innovators to increase our productivity and competitiveness through knowledge, creativity and technology. This is the intangible wealth of our nation that will enable our industries and SMEs to compete with the world, attract foreign investments, create jobs for our people and lift their quality of life.

IP Philippines is undergoing tremendous changes to face up to the challenge it has embraced. Internally, mindsets are changing, and along with it, processes and work methods to improve our products and services for our stakeholders. We are aligning our thrusts towards our vision deliberately and steadily.

Externally, we are reaching out to the IP community and to all stakeholders to craft a National IP Strategy to guide us in the next 5-10 years, an important and urgent task to secure our future. Some of you were present last October when we launched the consultative process for a national strategy. One of the strategic components of this strategy, as borne out by the consultations with different sectors so far, is a dynamic IP educational system.

The state of IP education, training and research in the country and strategies to strengthen these will be discussed in the symposium. Let me just say that IP education in the Philippines is at its infancy, with IP being taught either as an elective course in law schools or as part of commercial law or engineering courses in a few universities. The majority of IP practitioners in the country have not received advance formal training in IP prior to joining the profession. Their knowledge of IP is enriched by their practice. While the Philippine IP profession boasts of experienced legal practitioners, we see the value of creating a larger base of IP professionals who will become advocates of IP and who will contribute to furthering scholarship in the field of intellectual property.

Building the community of IP advocates and educators necessitates a comprehensive and integrated plan towards IP education and training that brings together the universities, research and development institutions, the IP profession, the SME sector, the creative industries sector and IP Philippines.

To push this endeavor, IP Philippines will spearhead the creation of the Philippine IP Academy. We envision this institution to be the center of education, training, and research on IP.

The Academy will foster IP creation and utilization by:
raising the level of IP awareness and knowledge among academic and research and development institutions, SMEs, business, IP users and rights holders through training programmes;

=> providing continuing education and training to

o IP Philippines employees; and
o IP professionals (lawyers and other IP practitioners, teachers, researchers, creators, inventors, innovators, and other IP generators);

=> developing partnerships and networks with universities and individual educators for the institutionalization of IP courses/programs;

=> promoting the inclusion of IP in basic and secondary education;

=> developing information materials to promote public awareness on IP;

=> conducting research to broaden IP knowledge and strengthen the competencies of IP professionals, and
build up policy research capacity to improve our legal and policy infrastructure and to advance the country’s interests in international fora.

Sharing IP Philippines’ goal of establishing the Philippine IP Academy, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) has committed its full support for this endeavor. With WIPO’s support and the dedication of the IP community and all stakeholders there is no reason why this project will not succeed.

We envision a strong community of IP advocates, educators, trainers and researchers consisting not only of IP practitioners and IP Philippines officials and employees, but also of academicians, scientists, entrepreneurs, inventors and business executives.

However, intellectual property will only be relevant in a developing country if its people -the ultimate beneficiaries of a dynamic IP system – can see and feel its benefits and participate in the system. And a country’s citizens will only participate in a system when they know and appreciate what it is and what it can do for them.

A Philippine IP Academy is an idea whose time has come. But it will not take form without all of your support and contribution. It is our hope that this symposium will prove to be a historic one and that it will unleash Filipino creativity and innovation, which in turn, will help bring forth the economic prosperity and social security that our people long for.