Country focus: No Short Cuts - Raising Awareness of IP in the Philippines

• Author: Adrien S. Cristobal, Jr.
• Position: Director General of the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines

Raising public awareness of the importance of intellectual property (IP) and of how the IP system works is a critical function of an IP office. Performing this basic task is indispensable to strengthening all aspects of the IP system and facilitating its contribution to socio-economic development. Awareness-raising designed to encourage the public to use the products and services provided by IP offices is also a crucial step in ensuring the financial sustainability of those offices, as the IP office of the Philippines found when it stopped receiving government subsidies in 2006.

The Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines - re-branded "IP Philippines" in 2005 as part of the office’s new image - has been working to improve its public outreach programs. With a staff of 300 responsible for administering the IP system in a country of 88 million people across an archipelago of over 7,000 islands, IP Philippines faces enormous challenges in reaching the public. Meeting these challenges has been a central feature of the organization’s new business plan over the past two years.

A challenging task

Educating the public about IP is a formidable task for any developing country. With scarce government resources available to tackle urgent problems - such as poverty, health, education and law and order - it can seem difficult to justify investing in communications about IP. The challenge is made more difficult by widespread public ignorance or indifference toward IP, among both consumers and creators. Not only does the subject seem too technical for the layman, but it is also a relatively new field of knowledge. An even more serious obstacle is consumer hostility and ideological opposition to IP laws. Controversy surrounds such questions as how IP rights affect access to knowledge and medicines. And large segments of the public perceive the IP system only as a means for foreign multinationals to protect their own economic interests in the country.

"Marketing IP is not as simple as selling a bar of soap."

Finally, there is the lack of relevant experience and skills in government bureaucracies, IP offices included, which are not generally adept at marketing and communications. Although this can be solved by outsourcing, these experts have no experience in "selling" IP. Marketing IP is not as simple as selling a bar of soap.

In preparation for the cessation of government subsidies, IP Philippines commissioned a Resource Audit and Management Report (RAMP), and in 2005, with the assistance of the European Patent Office (EPO), began implementing changes which the Report recommended were needed for IP Philippines to become a self-sustaining organization. This included extending the functions of the organization beyond administering IP regulations.

Some facets of the change management arising out of...