The Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) and the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) are joining forces to protect the intellectual property rights (IPR) of Filipino agricultural scientists focusing on biotechnology.

PhilRice and IPO recently resigned a memorandum of agreement promoting IPR awareness in the agriculture sector. The partnership is also expected to strengthen IPR enforcement in the country where the application of IPR laws in agriculture must be rigid to ensure that local advances and discoveries in biotechnology are credited to Filipino scientists and economic gains are reaped by consumers.

"There is new quit revolution in IPR, beginning with PhilRice. This agreement will be a best practice model to develop equally strong linkages between the IPO, state colleges and universities, and others R&D institutions," said IPO director general Adrian S. Cistobal Jr.

Under the agreement, PhilRice will lead and provide facilities for trainings, briefings, and seminar-workshops on IPR, and continually update its IPR database.

The IPO, on the other hand, will provide speakers during the workshops and assist PhilRice in developing IPR training modules for easier training facilitation.

PhilRice was designated in 2004 as the lead agency in the capability-building program of the Department of Agriculture (DA) on IPR institutionalization.

It has the best facilities among all DA agencies, with is manpower complement having the most all-around qualified expertise in agricultural biotechnology, engineering and machinery, food science and intellectual property.

IPO, on the other hand, is mandated to implement the Intellectual Property Code of the Philippines, as well as uphold the Plant Variety Protection Act of 2002.

"Filipino scientists and researchers specializing in biotechnology can now look forward to reaping more benefits from their studies as they learn more about IPR and its implications on the knowledge or products they have generated through research," said PhilRice director Leocadio Sebastian.

He said while scientists in developed countries are trained to handle the issues on regulatory and intellectual property rights related to biotechnology, the Filipino scientific community is still struggling to put up an ideal environment for investment in research and development.

Sebastian, who also recently led the inauguration of the Biotech-IPR training center in Nueva Ecija, said the new facility can provide that ideal environment by educating scientists and researchers in the fundamentals of IPR such as patent, trademark, technology transfer agreement, and prior art search.

Sebastian noted that only a few scientists and researchers are aware of IPR and its application on their studies.

"Before, scientists and researchers are contented with publishing their works and break-troughs. Now, they also want their share on financial benefits. This should be the case where strong gains in biotech have been occurring in developed counties where intellectual property rights are well established," he added.