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The
Universally Accessible Cheaper and Quality Medicines Act
of 2008 will be signed into law any day now by President
Arroyo. The original bills from both houses of Congress
were focused on amending Republic Act 8293, known as the
Intellectual Property (IP) Code. The premise was that
the intellectual-property system is crucial to promote
creativity and innovation, and with a bit of tinkering,
it can be made more responsive to the needs of a
developing country and, in this instance, public health.
Although
provisions on price regulation and amending the generics
law took center stage in the debate as the compromise
bill entered its final stages, the impact of the IP
system on our development goals and our daily lives is
not lost to policymakers and the public. The Cheaper and
Quality Medicines Act is a landmark law that will
address the country’s requirements for public health,
one of the eight priority areas of the Philippine
Intellectual-Property Policy Strategy (PIPPS).
Now, we
move on to another strategic area of public policy,
where the IP system also plays a critical role:
technological development and competitiveness. Rep.
Joseph Emilio Abaya of the First District of Cavite has
filed House Bill No. 3270 that aims to build up the
technological base of the Philippine economy by
encouraging technology transfer and commercialization.
In his
explanatory note, Representative Abaya correctly
observes that technology transfer and innovation have
been “very much at the center of policies on economic
development” of developed countries, which explains
their economic growth and productivity. Technological
innovations emanating from high-quality scientific
research institutions are the key factors that sustain
their economic growth.
Representative Abaya, citing the 2006-2007 Global
Competitiveness Report, laments that “the Philippines is
ranked 71st out of 125 countries in terms of
technological readiness or ability to adopt technologies
from home or abroad to enhance the productivity of its
industries. This is in contrast with the high rankings
of our Asian neighbors like Singapore [2nd], Hong Kong
[13th], Korea [18th], Japan [19th], Malaysia [28th] and
Thailand [48th]. In the area of innovation or the
ability to produce brand-new technologies, the country
ranks a dismal 79th. Compared to emerging innovation
powerhouses in the Asean like Singapore [9th], Malaysia
[21st], Indonesia [37th] and Thailand [33rd], the
Philippines has a lot of catching up to do in terms of
innovation.”
House
Bill 3270 aims to foster a “conducive policy environment
with strong support from public and private sectors” and
address the “weakest link in the country’s innovation
system…the process of transferring and commercializing
the results of R&D, particularly those undertaken by
government-funded R&D institutions [RDIs].”
One of
the crucial elements in successful technology transfer
and commercialization is, in the words of Representative
Abaya, “a well-defined intellectual-property regime.” HB
3270, drawing lessons from legislation in the United
States and the United Kingdom, will allow publicly
funded RDIs to commercialize their innovations, which
will generate not only economic but also social
benefits.
Like the
Access to Affordable Cheaper and Quality Medicines Act
of 2008, this law on IP and technology transfer and
commercialization will, if passed, be another landmark
piece of legislation. It may not have the drama of the
former, with its powerful interest groups against
public-interest advocates, but this law will have the
same strategic impact on our society and can change the
face of the Philippine economy in the near future.
The author is the director general of the Intellectual
Property Office of the Philippines. Comments may be sent
to e-mail address: dg_asc@ipophil.gov.ph. |
