Patent News | "PhilRice Setting Up Patent Libraries"


By : mb.com.ph
Source : http://www.mb.com.ph
Category : Patent News

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) is setting up a patent library to strengthen patent credit capability as it has 10 pending patent applications for what must be commercially profitable products.

PhilRice has entered in a memorandum of agreement (MOA) with the Intellectual Property Office (IPO)-Philippines for its membership in the IPO-led Innovation and Technology Support Office (ITSO).

This linkage gives it access to a patent database which contains information on some 75 million patent documents granted globally and the potentially unprotected innovative works that may come out of this.

“Among the PhilRice-based ITSO functions include providing skills training in patent searching, conducting patent search services, and organizing a community of experts and patent information users,” said Philrice Intellectual Property Management Officer-in-Charge Jerry C. Serapion in a statement.

PhilRice has several patents to its credit including that for a mechanical device for cleaning machine seeds which it obtained just in 2011; for the Palayamanan model, a system of integrating rice farming with other livelihood sources like fishery, livestock, and high value crops like vegetables; and for its rice wine “Tapuy.”

It has 10 pending patent applications including four machines and six methods and processes.

It has a Plant Variety Protection for Mestiso 19 and Mestiso 20 and Certificate of Copyright Registration and Deposit for 22 knowledge products deposited at the National Library.

“With ITSO, it is hoped that duplication in research work will be minimized, and funds allocated to research and development will be effectively utilized,” Serapion said.

Philrice expects to avail of incentives in the form of patent subsidy or free patent registration under IPO’s Juan Thousand Inventions (JTI). JTI will provide free patents for the first 1,000 applications until Dec. 20, 2013.

At present, Philrice already markets the “Laboy tiller” and the microtiller.

The Laboy tiller is a portable, lightweight tiller that claims to work well even in fields with soft, deep, or very deep mud (“laboy” soil) and long stubbles. Its tag price is P60,000 -P65,000. It has an average capacity of one hectare per day in deep muddy field.

It claims that its microtiller is also portable, is already distributed in local stories, and works well in fields with knee-deep hard pans and long stubbles.

“The microtiller works at least 24 times faster than the traditional method of foot trampling,” said PhilRice in its website. (MMA)

Source : http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/357046/philrice-setting-up-patent-libraries