Intellectual Property Office eyes ‘green lane’ to register trademarks
THE Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (Ipophl) plans to cut the time it takes to register trademarks, offering a “green lane” that will shave months off the timetable.
This practice, which the agency said was inspired by its counterpart in Europe, means registration for trademarks could take only a month as long as they pass certain standards.
Once achieved, this will mark a significant improvement on the part of the agency, especially since the registration process at best took an average of eight months for the past five years.
In a statement on Tuesday, Ipophl Director General Josephine Santiago said the agency would have a group of senior examiners to determine if a certain trademark does not raise the red flags listed in the law.
Under the intellectual property law, there are absolute grounds that prevent a trademark from being registered, such as if it consists of scandalous or immoral matter.
Moreover, the law also prevents registration based on relative grounds, such as when a potential trademark is identical to an already existing one.
She, however, didn’t say when the green lane would be imposed.
This is on top of other reforms, including increasing the manpower of the agency, Ipophl said.
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