THE United States Trademark Office has officially recognized the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (Ipophl) as competent in international searching and examining, which is a significant advancement for the Philippines' intellectual property sector.

The Ipophl is one of the few IP offices that gained confidence from the US as a competent International Searching Authority and International Preliminary Examining Authority (ISA/IPEA).

"For years since elevating to ISA/IPEA status in 2017, Ipophl has been streamlining and harmonizing its quality management policies to ensure the accuracy, comprehensiveness and timeliness of our search and examination reports," Ipophl Director General Rowel Barba said in a statement.

"Today, we reap the rewards of that hard work with, welcomingly, more work which we are ready to take on as we expect more countries to designate Ipophl and more inventors to harness Ipophl's ISA/IPEA services," he added.

Ipophl joins some designated IP offices including the Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO), European Patent Office (EPO), Japan Patent Office (JPO), IP Australia (IPAU), IP Office of Singapore (IPOS) and Israel Patent Office (ILPO).

Ipophl is among just 24 operational ISA/IPEAs globally and the second in Southeast Asia to fulfill this role.

In 2017, all member-states of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) unanimously approved Ipophl as a designated ISA/IPEA, granting it the authority to perform searches and preliminary examinations for applications submitted under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT).

WIPO's latest PCT Yearly Review showed Ipophl's efficiency in delivering international search reports, with timeliness ratings of 80 percent for international reports transmitted within three months and 100 percent within the nine-month deadline, surpassing other ISA/IPEA offices.

"As an ISA/IPEA, Ipophl issues international search reports that identify the patent documents and technical literature as relevant prior art, and draws up a written opinion that details how these prior art may affect an invention's patentability," said Ipophl.

When applicants amend their patent application in light of the findings in the written opinion, they can request an international preliminary examination.

"The capability to draw up these reports in a timely manner shows our access to a whole array of robust databases and literature and, most importantly, the skills of our patent examiners to conduct quality examinations at a relatively faster turnaround time," said Barba.