DOST acts to protect rights of inventors

The Department of Science and Technology (DOST) stressed the need to protect the inventors’ interest over their intellectual property creations and those of the whole research and development (R&D) community with the creation of intellectual property and technology management instrument for the DOST system.

The Philippines Council for Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Resources Research and Development (PCARRD)-DOST, in cooperation with other R&D institutes and councils of the said agency, spearheaded the crafting of an instrument that will address numerous intellectual property rights (IPR) issues in the DOST level.

This is DOST’s response to the need for a competitive, flexible, and agile mechanism to address intellectual property concerns, such as the need to assist technology generators to avoid intellectual piracy, and for the inventors to get the best return of their intellectual undertakings.

The instrument is a product of a six-month consultation with DOST and non-DOST agencies. It provides for the creation of a mechanism in each DOST agency to operationalize intellectual property and technology management and to guide the agency in its contractual dealing on science and technology activities with the member agencies of the National Research and Development System (NRDS).

DOST considers this move as a major undertaking in the agency’s effort in boosting the Filipino scientists’ inventive zeal. Signed by DOST Secretary Estrella F. Alabastro during PCARRD’s 30th anniversary celebration in Los Baños, recently.

The IPR and technology management instrument is the product of the amended pertinent provisions of the previous DOST agency with a permanent mechanism that will address IPR issues such as protection, transfer and commercialization, policy and advocacy and database management.

DOST believes that this IPR instrument will elicit the widest participation of stakeholders in the generation and utilization of technologies. According to DOST, such a step in IPR provides a healthy and conducive environment for intellectual property and technology management endeavors by assisting technology innovators from the conceptualization of the technology up to its commercialization, and by providing the benefits due the researchers for technologies that have been commercialized. – S&T Media Service