by: Atty. Dennis R. Gorecho, Sapalo Velez Bundang & Bulilan Law Offices

The Philippines will be the venue of the Asian Patent Attorneys Association (APAA) council meeting this year at Pasay City, Metro Manila from November 18 to 21, 2024.

Last year’s APAA 20th General Assembly and 74th & 75th Council Meeting was held from November 3 to 7, 2023 at the Marina Bay Sands in Singapore. The last time that APAA held its Council Meeting in Singapore was back in 2008.

Some 40 Filipino intellectual property lawyers attended the event along with almost 1,400 other delegates from different countries.

The Philippines hosted the APAA council meetings in 1990 (Manila Hotel), 2000 (Cebu), and 2011 (Shangri-La Makati).

The APAA is a non-governmental organization dedicated to promoting and enhancing intellectual property (IP) protection in the Asian region.

Established in December 1969, membership of APAA is open to individuals practicing the profession of patent attorney in the Asian region as well as organizations that comprise such individuals and are constituted in the Asian region.

The association now has more than 2,500 members from 21 recognized groups in Australia, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Laos, Macau, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, New Zealand, Pakistan, Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam, as well as from Bhutan, Brunei, Laos and Mongolia.

“In the foreseeable future, the growth of IP in Asia is going to be galloping off at a tremendous pace. It is likely to be for the next couple of years, at least, the strongest growing region, IP-wise, in the world,” according to Minister for Culture, Community and Youth Edwin Tong SC.

Tong added that he believes APAA will have a crucial role to play, in helping businesses in the different jurisdictions unleash the hidden IP potential, tap into the markets, realize their potential, and really grow economically.

Some of APAA’s activities include exchanging information and views concerning IP protection.

Country representatives presented their respective reports on issues involving anti-counterfeiting, copyright, patents, designs, trademarks, and emerging IP rights.

There were also roundtable discussions on women empowerment; handling cross-border trademark infringement or counterfeit products online and off-line; artificial intelligence and patentability of computer-implemented inventions; unified patent court litigation system in Europe; trade secrets and cross-border misappropriation cases; intersection of competition and IP laws; work life balance; trends in equality, diversity, inclusivity; approaches to drafting a patent specification that is suitable for multiple jurisdictions.

The Intellectual Property Association of the Philippines (IPAP) was founded on March 31, 1977 with the aim of professionalizing the steadily growing practice of IP law in the Philippines.

IPAP is the sole Philippine national group recognized by the APAA, the Asean Intellectual Property Association, and the Association Internationale pour la Protection dela Propriete Industrielle.

IPAP’s founding member Atty. Alonzo Ancheta is the 2006-2009 president of APAA, the first Filipino to hold this position.

IPAP’s past president Atty. Pablo Gancayco received the Enduring Award during the Gala dinner.

 

 

 

 

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in the articles are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of IPAP.