Philippines moves ahead with IP reforms for ASEAN Economic Community

The Philippines has announced its intention to accede to several IP agreements as part of its plans to get ready for the ASEAN Economic Community in 2015. These are:

• the Nice Agreement on the classification of goods and services in trademark applications;

• the Vienna Agreement on the classification of the figurative parts of trademarks;

• the Singapore Treaty on the Law of Trademarks, which harmonises various trademark prosecution procedures ; and

• the Hague Agreement, which provides for a centralised design registration system - ASEAN is encouraging its adoption throughout the region.

The Philippines Intellectual Property Office also announced plans to further amend the Intellectual Property Code. The definition of a ‘trademark’ will be expanded to include non-traditional trademarks. The requirement to file a declaration of actual use after three years will be axed, which will be music to trademark owners’ ears. In addition, the office plans to have an electronic office action process, to accept credit cards for payment and to enable direct printing of trademark certificates from the system.  

The Philippines Intellectual Property Office continues to demonstrate leadership in ASEAN, and will no doubt become one of the leading countries in the region for IP harmonisation as 2015 approaches.

Nick Redfearn, Rouse, Indonesia