The Philippine Intellectual Property Office (IPO) is establishing a formal training institution that will provide interested parties basic courses on IP, such as evaluating and managing a company's assets categorized as IP. Certain courses will also be tailored to cater specifically to small- and medium-sized companies.

Despite acknowledging a 'big gap' in local laws that protect IP, IPO director-general Attorney Adrian Cristobal is hoping enough awareness about IP will encourage more local companies to develop and harness 'intangible' human capital.

'In the U.S., 65 percent of corporate wealth is classified as intangible assets. We can no longer neglect this fact now that we're positioning the Philippines as an ICT (Information and Communications Technology) hub,' said Cristobal in a media briefing during the recent IPO National Symposium on Education, Training, and Research.

By bringing in foreign expertise to conduct training, the IPO is looking to address a basic lack of awareness and knowledge locally. Although according to Cristobal, there are legal impediments to harnessing local IP that are in the form of government-funded research, including those from state universities like the University of the Philippines (UP) and others like the Philippine Rice Research Institute.