M.E.P. Cruz
MSU- Iligan Institute of Technology has been named a host Institution to operate an Innovation and Technology Support Office (ITSO) or a “patent library.”
The ITSO is a flagship initiative of the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL) which works with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) to establish a network of ITSOs in universities and research–related institutions. The initiative strengthens the institutional capacity of the MSU-IIT to access patent information and make use of the patent system.
The Memorandum of Agreement for the ITSO franchise was signed by MSU-IIT Chancellor Sukarno D. Tanggol and IPOPHL Director General Ricardo R. Blancaflor last March 16, 2012 at the IPOPHL Office in Fort Bonifacio, Taguig City. Vice Chancellor for Research and Extension OlgaM. Nuñeza witnessed the MOA signing.
The increasing recognition that knowledge is a vital commodity that can promote technological progress to effectively drive the economy through the dissemination of generated research results has prompted intensified worldwide campaign for the protection of proprietary rights in the knowledge created.
The ITSOs are established in strategic areas and institutions where there is high potential for patent activity, patent information usage, and potential commercialization of technological innovations to enable and support increase research and development activities in the Philippines.
Operating an ITSO will benefit the Institute constituents as well as the local community in accessing patent information and a ready pool of trained technical experts who will help in the drafting of patent applications and other Intellectual Property support services.
The establishment of the ITSO will also strengthen and support the mandate of the Institute Intellectual Property Unit ( IPU), created in 2010, in managing and safeguarding the intellectual property generated from research and development activities of faculty and staff of the Institute. More patent applications are expected once the ITSO will be established.