Republic Act No. 8293 declares that “The State recognizes that an effective intellectual and industrial property system is vital to the development of domestic and creative activity, facilitates transfer of technology, attracts foreign investments, and ensures market access for our products” and created the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL) to “promote the use of patent information as a tool for technology development”. The mission of IPOPHL is to “commit to deliver high quality, fast, reliable, effective and efficient services to promote innovation and encourage the creation, utilization, protection of and respect for intellectual property”. One of the flagship initiatives of the Intellectual Property Office or IPOPHL is to establish a network of Innovation and Technology Support Offices (ITSOs) in strategic areas and institutions in the country, like MSU, with high potential for patent activity, usage of patent information and commercialization of innovation in order to demystify and democratize the patent system and support local technological innovations. The Mindanao State University- Main Campus became the Host Institutions operating an ITSO in its premises in 2019. MSU, being a Host Institution, provides a ready pool of science and technical experts with competence to conduct patent search and patent drafting, among other essential competencies and services, as well as assist in patent prosecution, and benefit from the IP capacity-building interventions of IPOPHL and World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), which will ultimately result in increased IP creation, protection and commercialization in the local community.
