August 22, 2016
On July 11, 2016, the Director General of the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHIL) signed IPOPHIL Memorandum Circular No. 16-007 which amended the existing Rules and Regulations on Inter Partes Proceedings as revised by Office Order No. 99, series of 2011. The amendments made to the existing rules and regulations were due to IPOPHIL’s aim to “achieve a more efficient and expeditious resolution” of inter partes cases including oppositions to applications for trademark registrations, petitions to cancel trademark registrations, petitions to cancel invention patents, utility model registrations, industrial design registrations , or any claim or parts of a claim and appeals before the Bureau of Legal Affairs and the Office of the Director General, respectively. The highlight of the recent amendment is that Hearing Officers/Adjudication Officers are now authorized to issue and sign Decisions and Final Orders, which authority used to be only limited to the Director of the Bureau of Legal Affairs or to the Committee of Three, in cases of petitions to cancel patents.