DOST, business, scientists streamline licensing and royalty process

MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Science and Technology has established a process in crafting licensing and royalty agreements with Filipino entrepreneurs wanting to adopt technologies developed by the DOST’s in-house inventors and innovators or university scientists and researchers whose research and development projects were funded by the department.

Dean Rowena Guevara, DOST undersecretary for research and development, said that the establishment of these processes would facilitate the signing of direct licensing and royalty agreements among the DOST, scientists and researchers, and local entrepreneurs adopting these technologies.

“We go as far as formulating guidelines we call Fairness Opinion Report, which is necessary for any government-funded R&D so they can transfer it to their private partners,” Guevara said.

The DOST has also identified officers who will make up fairness opinion committees or boards that will undertake the studies and submit reports for the adoption of technologies, mostly food processing equipment developed by the DOST’s R&D institutions, or university researchers and scientists whose R&D had been funded by the DOST either through the Philippine Council for Industry, Energy and Emerging Technology R&D (PCIEERD), the Philippine Council for Agriculture and Aquatic Resources R&D (PCAARRD), and the Philippine Council for Health Research & Development (PCHRD).

She asked the public, particularly Filipino micro, small and medium (MSME) entrepreneurs and even big business, to look closely at these innovative products and assess how these could help in improving their respective products and services.

Guevara said that the agency spends P3 billion to P5 billion every year to fuel R&D.

The DOST had recently held a successful Technology Transfer Day or TTD in Ormoc City where at least 19 applications for direct licensing agreements had been signed middle of last month.

The Visayas leg of the TTD campaign was spearheaded by the DOST Region 8 headed by engineer Edgar Esperancilla who partnered with the Ormoc City Chamber of Commerce and Industry (OrCham), enabling the DOST to hold the TTD as one of the pre-event activities during the 25th Visayas Area Business Conference.