SOME 30 faculty and staff doing research have learned how to get copyright of their original works and inventions or how to register them in a patent office for their own protection, professional recognition, and monetary incentive.

This was the result of a Seminar-Workshop on Patent Search held at the MMSU Hostel Function Hall on Aug. 12-15 by the University Intellectual Property and Innovations and Technology Support Office, or simply known as UIPO.

The seminar was in compliance with the MMSU Transfer Protocol (MTT) Guidelines approved by the members of the Board of Regents through Resolution No. 1311, s. 2014 passed during its 107th meeting on May 9.

The BOR’s resolution was passed to recognize the traditional academic practice of treating faculty members as copyright owners of works they independently created at their own initiative for academic purposes such as those being used in instruction, research, production, and extension works.

This protocol gives them clear guidelines on incentives, protection, and commercialization of potential intellectual properties (IPs) and intellectual property rights (IPRs) generated or derived from their research works. It covers all persons, matters, and rights of all faculty members, researchers, students, extension staff, and visiting professors participating in any program, project, and contract or research activity in the university.

In her welcome remarks, Dr. Prima Fe. R. Franco, vice president for research and extension, said the seminar-workshop is important and very timely because the university, which is the leading institution in Region 1 in terms of IPRs generation, recognizes the need to have its own technology transfer protocol (TTP) in accordance with the Philippine Technology Transfer Act of 2009 otherwise known as Republic Act 10005.

Given proper awareness and understanding of their IPRs, MMSU researchers are equipped with the necessary knowledge and tools in subjecting their researches to patenting. A patent is an exclusive right granted by the country to a patent owner for a product, process, or an improvement of a product or process through the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) of the Philippines for a specified period. The university has its own IPO headed by Dr. Dionisio Bucao.

Meanwhile, IPR consists of copyright and related rights to written research materials such as theses and dissertations, literary and essay writings, music, fine arts (photography, paintings or sculptures), and technology-based works such as computer software programs, websites, and electronic databases. Copyright includes trademarks and service marks, industrial designs, patented products, layout designs of integrated circuits, and protection of undisclosed information.

The patent owner has the right to prohibit any unauthorized person or entity from using, making, or selling his product or process. He can also transfer his right by assigning or transferring the patent and conclude licensing contract from it.

Dr. Bucao said “all works and inventions that have been conceived or reduced to practice by all academic, non-academic, and non-research staff during office hours using university resources regardless of the amount that was spent shall be owned by the university and are entitled to IPR.”

As such, MMSU has the first right to commercialize any potential IPR generated. In cases where the university fails to commercialize an IPR one year after it was granted, the inventor shall be allowed to commercialize subject to the provision of RA 10055.

“However, the university shall still have all the right to the IP and can take over the commercialization subject to the provisions of the MTT,” Bucao said adding that an employer-employee contract shall be established first before the university can undertake any commercialization activity.

The employer-employee contract shall contain the duties and responsibilities of the parties, membership of the research team, degree of involvement of the members of the research team, the support staff, ownership of IP, sharing of monetary and non-monetary benefits, composition of the work force, marketing and commercialization team; technology disclosure, management of conflict of interest; and trade secret agreement.

Incentives

Since IPR is one of the important criteria in an institution’s leveling and ranking, an incentive of P5,000 shall be given to the researcher just after the filing of the product’s patent, industrial design, copyright, and plant registry.

An additional incentive of P10,000 and P100,000 shall be given to every industrial design and patent, respectively, while another incentive of P20,000 shall be given to every technology adopted for commercialization.