Intellectual Property Rights: Trademarks and Geographic Indications

Intellectual Property Rights

• A trademark is a visible sign that distinguishes the goods or services of an enterprise and can include a stamped or marked container of goods.
• A service mark is a mark that distinguishes the services of an enterprise.

Geographic Indications

• A geographic indication is a sign that identifies a good as originating in a specific territory or region, where the quality, reputation, or characteristic of the good is attributable to its geographical origin.

Copyright

• Copyright protects original literary and artistic works, which are protected from the moment of creation.

Undisclosed Information

• Undisclosed information refers to secret information that has commercial value, is not generally known or accessible, and is documented.

Jurisdiction Over Disputes

• Original jurisdiction:
  • Regular courts have jurisdiction over actions under the Intellectual Property Code (IPC) without prejudice to subsection 7.1(c).
  • The Bureau of Copyright has jurisdiction over disputes relating to the terms of a license involving the author's right to public performance or other communication of their work.
• Appellate jurisdiction:
  • The Director General has jurisdiction over decisions rendered by the Bureau of Copyright and other related rights, Director of Patents, Director of Trademarks, and Director of the Documentation, Information and Technology Transfer.
  • The Court of Appeals has jurisdiction over decisions of the Director General in the exercise of his appellate jurisdiction.
  • The Secretary of Trade and Industry has jurisdiction over decisions of the Director General in the exercise of his appellate jurisdiction over the Director of the Documentation, Information and Technology Transfer and over the decisions of the Director General in the exercise of his original jurisdiction.

Law on Patents

• A patent is a right granted to an inventor by the State, allowing them to exclude others from commercially exploiting their invention for a limited period.
• The three-fold purpose of a patent is to provide an incentive for innovation, to promote the disclosure of inventions, and to provide a framework for the commercialization of inventions.

Patentable Inventions

• Patentable inventions may relate to a product, process, or improvement of any of the foregoing.
• Examples of patentable inventions include:
  • Machines
  • Devices
  • Articles of manufacture
  • Compositions of matter
  • Microorganisms
  • Computer-related inventions

Non-Patentable Inventions

• Non-patentable inventions include:
  • Discoveries, scientific theories, and mathematical methods
  • Abstract ideas or theories
  • Schemes, rules, and methods of performing mental acts and playing games
  • Methods of doing business
  • Methods for treatment of the human or animal body
  • Anything contrary to public order, health, welfare, or morality
  • Aesthetic creations
  • Programs for computers
  • Plant varieties or animal breeds
  • Essentially biological processes for the production of plants and animals
  • In the case of drugs and medicines, mere discovery of a new form or new property of a known substance, or mere use of a known process

Utility Model

• A utility model is a technical solution to a problem in any field of human activity that is new and industrially applicable.
• It may relate to a product, process, or improvement of any of the foregoing.
• Utility models are sometimes described as devices or useful objects.

Prior Art

• Prior art consists of:
  • Information made available to the public anywhere in the world before the filing date or priority date of the application.
  • The whole contents of an application for a patent, utility model, or industrial design registration filed or effective in the Philippines, with a filing or priority date that is earlier than the filing or priority date of the application.

Exception: Non-Prejudicial Disclosure

• Disclosure of information contained in the application during the 12 months preceding the filing date or priority date of the application shall not prejudice the applicant on the ground of lack of novelty, if such disclosure was made by:
  • The applicant or inventor
  • A person who obtained the information from the applicant or inventor
  • A person who obtained the information from a person who obtained it from the applicant or inventor

Learn about trademarks, service marks, and geographic indications in the context of Intellectual Property Rights and Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS).