Author : Resurreccion, Lyn

Summary : The Department of Agriculture and its agency, the Philippine Rice Research and Institute (PhilRice) are gearing up for protecting the intellectual property rights (IPR) of Filipino researchers and scientists, and helping them fain from their inventions. The DA-PhilRice, as part of the celebration of the National Biotech Week, recently inaugurated the state-of-the-art Biotech Intellectual Property Rights Training Center at PhilRice in Muñoz, Nueva Ecija. The P2-million center is equipped with 30 computers suitable for prior art search, which is critical process in determining IPR. It was put up through the joint efforts of the DA Biotech Program Implementation Unit (BPIU) and PhilRice Intellectual Property Management Office (IPMO). A three day seminar-workshop on IPR and biotechnology was conducted followed by the center's inauguration. It was attended by 30 professionals undertaking biotech R&D. Lawyer Ronilo Beronio,. PhilRice IPMO deputy executive director center is to train on patent classification, and search for the existing patents and just improve on them.