EDITORIAL

Protecting Filipino Scientists and Inventors’ Right

by DELANO T. TEFORA

A government public servant for 20 years in service as scientist, Dr. Baldomero Olivera always comes up with good research project despite limited budgets and cumbersome government bureaucracy. After painstaking laboratory and desk studies, the valuable results of his works usually end up on shelves, easy targets and victims of bio-piracy or bio-prospecting by multinationals.

A good example is Conotoxin. It is isolated from snail (Conus spp.) found in the Philippines, Dr. Baldomero Olivera and his colleagues at UP Marine Science Institute is an excellent case in point.

This Conotoxin is 1,000 times effective than morphine, sold as Prialt Zicotomide with an estimated market value of US $8 billion upon Food and Drug Administration approval in 2004. It was patented by Elan Pharmaceuticals. Sadly, the Philippine government has not received any royalty out of this research finding from this marine specie found only in the Philippine waters. The other product is Nata De Coco which gained popularity in the Japanese market in the early 1990s. It was not patented and registered as intellectual property. Worse for it was patented in Japan, and destroyed the nata de coco business of many Filipino entrepreneurs.

Because of this piracy, there is now the thought to use Intellectual Property by agencies to benefit public scientists and researchers. There is now an increasing number of patents and trademarks applications granted in the name of government agencies. The Philippine Rice Research Institute (Philrice) has 9 pending patent applications. According to Atty. Ronilo A. Beronio, 4 are granted utility models, 3 pending, and 3 granted trademarks. The Philrice receives and disburses funds as incentives to its scientists and researchers. Unfortunately, not all government Research and Development (R & D) institutions are aware of the importance of intellectual property rights (IPR). Though scientists and inventors are aware of IPR, some does not apply for registration and patent to protect their rights.

While laws and regulations are approved to recognize the efforts these public scientists contribute to science, the problem lies in its implementation. The intellectual Property Code of the Philippines (RA 8293), Plant Variety Protection Act of 2002 (RA 9168), and the Magna Carta for Scientists, engineers, researchers and other science and technology personnel in the government (RA 8439) are the major legal instruments to protect the interest of public servants, scientists, and researchers. The rights of the scientists and researchers over the technologies they generated and articles invented should be protected under the law. These rights are not, however automatically protected if there is no application approved for intellectual property right. Moreover, government researchers are publicly funded, the notion that public goods are for FREE still predominates. With this in anybody’s mind, the full potential of intellectual property generated from publicly funded research is for anybody’s grasp.

According to PCARD, a government research office, the enactment of RA 10055 or the Philippine Technology Transfer Act of 2009 that officially took effect on May 8, 2010, interest of the public scientists and researchers must be defined and determined what portion of the scientific results be made FREE for the public.

The government is aware of Organic Farming (RA 10068) which was approved on April 6, 2010, called Organic Agricultural Act of 2010. PCARRD again have contributed significantly in the crafting up to the signing of this law. Hoping then, that organic farming will be incorporated in the agricultural course, and even in the secondary level of education so that people will have a healthy mindset of population for the next generation and future generations too. This is an indication of free public release of research fundings.

At PhilRice, an Intellectual Property Management Office is established to protect and commercialize scientific breakthroughs researchers generate in the various areas of rice research and development (R & D). It also makes sure that our researchers are trained and educated in the fundamentals of Intellectual Property, making IP part and parcel of their mindset when they do research. In 2009, PhilRice has generated P1.3 million from its patented and licensed technologies, and has disbursed to its scientists more than P0.6 million in royalties on developed marketable technologies.

In rice consumption update, Americans eat twice as much rice now than they did 10 years ago. Before, America was more of rice exporter than rice consumer. On the 18th century, rice was grown in the United States only along the coastal plains of the Carolinas and Georgia States. Today, enough rice grows in Arkansas, California, Louisiana, Texas, Mississippi, and Missouri. The United States is now 2nd largest rice exporter. She exports rice about 50 percent of the rice she grows and harvests. /MP