The Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL) has inked an agreement with the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (Unctad) for stronger cooperation between the two parties in the field of intellectual property (IP) and development.
The agreement will pave the way for further engagement between the IPOPHL and Unctad. The Philippines is seen to benefit more from the UN agency’s advisory services and capacity-building activities on IP and development issues.
“With this new agreement we are building on our mandate to align our IP policies with our interests as a developing economy and with our bid to achieve inclusive growth and development. We are fully aware that our IP policies need to be crafted with a public-policy perspective and that the cross-cutting IP and development issues are important issues that we need to address,” said lawyer Allan Gepty, deputy director general of IPOPHL.
The Unctad has been providing technical assistance in the form of ad hoc advisory services and capacity- building activities to the Philippines in various subject areas related to IP and development since 2013.
IP and development issues include access to knowledge and access to medicine, among others.