IPOPHL urges business groups to register native products

MANILA, Philippines - The Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL) is urging business groups to register their native products under a trademark to protect the reputation of their products.

IPOPHL is currently conducting consultations on the use of GI branding in the Philippines. The branding system is a type of trademark used on products that have a specific origin and possess qualities influenced by their place of origins.

In a press conference at the sidelines of the consultation on GI branding, IPOPHL director general Ricardo Balancaflor said the consultations are meant to identify products eligible for protection under the GI branding system and to establish an accreditation system.  

The agency has so far identified eight native products for registration under the GI scheme. These are Aklan pina cloth, Batangas Barako coffee, Bicol pili nuts, Cebu dried mangoes, Dagupan bangus (milkfish), Guimaras fresh mangoes, Lake Cebu Tinalak from South Cotabato, and Lumban barong.

At present, the use of a GI brand in the country is protected only under a trademark or a collective mark. There is no law protecting GI branding as a class of its own.

The IPOPHL is hoping to file in July a bill for the creation of a national GI protection system under the Intellectual Property Code.

IPOPHL is coordinating with government agencies supporting the production of agricultural products such as the Department of Agriculture and Bureau of Soil to determine the consistency of agricultural conditions that affect the production of GI products.

Blancaflor noted that a GI product usually has characteristics influenced by geographical location such as climate, soil, humidity and traditional practices. He said a GI brand usually has an eight percent added value because of the reputation of its place of origin.

In the absence of a law protecting GI brands, IPOPHL deputy director Allan Gerty said business associations in provinces that produce potential GI products can protect the reputation of their products by registering these with the IPOPHL under a collective mark that would distingush these from similar products in the market.

He said the Philippines is also working on its ascension to the Madrid Protocol, under which trademarks registered in the Philippines would be protected in 80 other signatory states.

Peter Damary, an associate partner of Swiss-based consultancy firm REDD ltd. said the Philippines is an ideal country for a GI scheme, having so many products that conform to GI specifications.

“The Philippines is a country made for GI because there are so many products. This (scheme) would help the producers of these products.Guimaras mangoes is a great expample of a GI product,” he said.

Guimaras Mayor Felipe Hilan Nava said his province could benefit a lot from the GI branding scheme because of the good reputation of Guimaras mangoes in the market.

“During peak season when we are not yet exporting, our mangoes sell P60 to P90 per kilo at farmgate prices, not P35 per kilo (like other kinds of mangoes,” he said.

Guimaras currently exports mangoes to Australia and the US. “We hope we can also enter the European market,” Nava said.