IPR Module 1
IPR Module 1
IPR Module 1
Prepared by:
Marielle N. Velarde
Instructor
Brief History
The Intellectual Property Code of the Philippines was signed into law 26 years ago and became
effective on January 1, 1998. But did you know the intellectual property system in the
Philippines existed before the country even declared itself an independent state?
The Spanish Law on Intellectual Property, approved on January 10, 1879 and came into force in
1880, was the first known copyright law in the Philippines. Under Spanish laws, copyright is
deemed as a property right and governed by civil law but with special legislative provisions.
On patents, even if historical records can’t confirm when the Spanish patent law of 1826 was
administered and adopted in the Philippines, some royal decrees pertaining to the colonies passed
in that period, saw the question of patents placed under the jurisdiction of ordinary tribunals in
the Philippines. Patent applications from the Philippines had to be sent to Spain for examination
and grant.
Following the outbreak of the Philippine Revolution in 1896 and the defeat of Spain in the
Spanish-American War, the Treaty of Paris was signed between the European country and the
United States to formalize the end of hostilities.
The Treaty of Paris, signed in December of 1898 ended 300 years of Spanish colonial rule in the
Philippines, and dictated the cessation of the Philippines and Guam from Spanish dominion to
the American colonial order. Article 13 of the Treaty of Paris specifically made mention of the
existent intellectual property system in the Philippines:
“The rights of property secured by copyrights and patents acquired by Spaniards in the Island of
Cuba and in Porto Rico, the Philippines, and other ceded territories, at the time of the exchange
of the ratifications of this treaty, shall continue to be respected…”
In 1913, the Philippine legislature passed Act No. 2235 making United States’ patent laws
applicable in the Philippines. Act No. 3134, entitled, "An Act to Protect Intellectual Property”
was passed in 1924, making it the main intellectual property law in effect until after Philippine
independence from the US in 1945. Act. No. 3134 was based on the U.S. Copyright Law of
1909.
As a newly independent state, the Philippines enacted two laws strengthening the IP system in:
Republic Act 165 and Republic Act 166, establishing a patent office and allowing for registration
and protection of trademarks, trade names, and service marks respectively, in 1947.
During the Marcos administration, Presidential Decree No. 49, which governed copyright works,
was passed and superseded Act No. 3134. As a politically independent state from the mid-1940s
onwards, the Philippines also entered into international conventions that laid out the foundations
of the intellectual property system we know today: the Berne Convention for the Protection of
Literary and Artistic Works (1951), and the Rome Convention of International Convention for
the Protection of Performers, Producers of Phonograms and Broadcasting Organizations (1964).
The Convention establishing the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), came into
force in 1980, of which the Philippines was already a signatory of since the 1960s. More
significantly, the Philippine Constitution promulgated in 1987 recognized the importance of
intellectual property in Article XIV, Section 13: “The State shall protect and secure the exclusive
rights of scientists, inventors, artists, and other gifted citizens to their intellectual property and
creations, particularly when beneficial to the people, for such period as may be provided by law.”
Later on, as the Philippines progressively became a member of the global community, it also
adhered to the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights in 1995
following its entry into the World Trade Organization in the same year. In keeping with its
commitment to these international conventions and the Philippine Constitution, the Philippine
government consolidated the pending intellectual property laws in 1997, and the efforts led to the
passing and enforcement of Republic Act 8293, the Intellectual Property Code in 1998.
Reference:
Lim, Christoper L. “The Development of Philippine Copyright Law.” Ateneo Law Journal, 46 ,
ser. 368, 2001.
Sapalo, Ignacio S. Background Reading Material on the Intellectual Property System of the
Philippines. World Intellectual Property Organization, 1994
https://www.ipophil.gov.ph/news/the-intellectual-property-system-a-brief-history/
https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/1997/06/06/republic-act-no-8293/
https://www.slideshare.net/AngelineEspanton1/conceptofintellectualpropertyrightspptpptx?
from_search=15
https://www.wipo.int/edocs/pubdocs/en/wipo_pub_909_2016.pdf
https://www.uspto.gov/trademarks/basics/what-trademark
https://www.investopedia.com/terms/s/service-mark.asp
https://www.wipo.int/geo_indications/en/
https://www.ipophil.gov.ph/services/industrial-design/
https://www.ipophil.gov.ph/patent/