PCARRD now has an in-house patent agent, giving its intellectual property (IP) management activities a much needed boost.
Mr. Noel A. Catibog of the Technology Outreach and Promotion Division (TOPD) passed the 2009 Patent Agent Qualifying Examination (PAQE) administered by the Intellectual Property (IP) Philippines and the European Patent Office on September 4, 2009. The PAQE aims to professionalize the patent agency practice in the country and establish a pool of patent agents with appropriate technical and science disciplines. Patent agents assist researchers and institutions in their patent applications with IP Philippines.
Of the 39 examinees, 16 qualified for the certification, composed of 9 IP practitioners in the non-chemical field and 7 from the chemical field where Catibog belongs. Catibog, along with the other PAQE passers, received their certification in Makati City recently and are now entered in the Registry of Patent Agents maintained by IP Philippines.
Incidentally, Catibog heads the IP Management Unit of TOPD. Through this unit, PCARRD provides its member agencies basic frontline IP services such as audit, management trainings, protection assistance, and technical assistance. In cooperation with IP Philippines, trainings on technology disclosures and claim drafting, and technology valuation and technology transfer modes form part of the services offered by PCARRD.