June 14, 2016

The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), in cooperation with the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHIL), held a workshop on June 13, 2016 entitled “Understanding the Use of Industrial Designs in Southeast Asia”.  The Workshop was designed to inform participants about a study being undertaken by WIPO with respect to industrial designs.  The study will examine the use of industrial designs in three Southeast Asian countries, namely Philippines, Thailand and Indonesia.  Specifically, the study seeks to discover the answers to the following questions:  (1) who uses industrial designs in the economy; (2) what motivates firms to apply for industrial designs; (3) what is the value of industrial designs; and (4) what are the challenges that firms face when applying for and enforcing industrial design rights. To accomplish the study, WIPO will rely on empirical data based on the unit-record industrial design filing data.  It will analyze the data and survey industrial design applicants.  The partners in this study will be Prof. Ramon Clarete from the UP School of Economics and IPOPHIL, which will be sending out the survey to industrial design filers in the Philippines.

In addition to informing participants about the study on industrial designs, the workshop also provided information about the Hague System, which enables the centralized acquisition and maintenance of industrial design rights through the filing of the a single international application for a single international registration with effect in one or more designated Contracting Parties.  WIPO emphasized the benefits of the Hague System, such as simplicity, cost-effectiveness, efficiency and flexibility.  Currently, there are 65 contracting parties to the Hague System.  The Philippines has already committed to accede to the Hague Agreement in the near future.