Inventors seek gov't protection

The Filipino Inventors Society (FIS) appealed yesterday for government protection from infringement of intellectual property rights of its members.

Benjamin Santos, FIS national president, said that without protection, any individual can appropriate for himself any intellectual creation and profit from it without investing time, effort and money.

"Our inventions contribute to the development and progress of our nation, especially now that we are in crisis. But how can we encourage our inventors to enhance their creativity if the government seems reluctant to support them?" Santos lamented.

Santos cited the case of Edgardo Vazquez, FIS member and former president, whose duly registered and patented housing invention was allegedly copied by Laguna Properties Holdings, Inc. (LPHI), a housing development firm of the Ayala Group.

According to Santos, Vazquez invented a modular housing system, called Vazbuilt, which was used by LPHI in the construction of mass housing units without the consent and knowledge of the inventor.

"The FIS laments that unauthorized copying of intellectual property by other persons trample the rights of inventors," Santos said.

The LPHI, however, claimed that the technology it used in its mass housing projects is different from that of Vazquez's.

It said that the company uses the modular building systems of Tex Holdings Plc., a British firm, and Swiss builder Maison Individuelles SA. The LPHI added Vazquez's patent is different from that of the Tex's. -