Butuan City, Philippines – The Innovation and Technology Support Office (ITSO) and the Technology Transfer & Licensing Office (TTLO) of Caraga State University (CSU) in Butuan City shall launch a series of webinars to educate the public on Intellectual Property (IP) and Technology Commercialization, as part of the two-month Science and Technology for Development (SciTech4Dev) event of the university beginning September 21 to October 30, 2020.

From September 21-30, CSU will host a webinar series on IP that will cover topics on intellectual property system, copyright, trademark, patent, industrial design, and utility model among the other forms of IP. Target participants from this webinar are those from the industry and the MSMEs in the country. Teachers and students from elementary to college levels may choose to participate in the different schedules of the webinars. CSU will also provide webinar series on IP and Patent Search in one of the national universities in the country every Friday in October 2020.

CSU’s ITSO is an IPOPHL-ITSO Social Franchise and the “go-to” office on intellectual property concerns of the university and in the northern Mindanao Region and is among the very active ITSOs in the country today. The university’s ITSO works with and in coordination with the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) - Caraga Region’s own IP desk. CSU is also one of the sixty-six registered Technology Innovation and Support Centers (TISC) of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).

CSU and the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL) have launched the first IP advocacy office in the region way back in February 5, 2014. Since then, numerous seminars related to innovation and IP have been conducted by CSU. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, the university’s ITSO organized several events to keep educating the public on the importance of innovating & IP in the midst of the pandemic.

The ITSO in CSU believes of the importance of innovation and intellectual property are two very significant topics to be shared with the public, including the students from all levels and faculty members if they intend to develop products and services for the establishment of future startups or spinoffs.

Startups with strong intellectual property have a significant advantage over those startups without IP. In a very competitive business environment, IP is a catalyst for businesses to capture a significant market share. IBM, Google, Apple, and Samsung, to name a few of the most innovative companies today, rely significantly on the IPs developed from their products primarily to strengthen their market share. 

Participants are encouraged to register on the following links:

Batch 1 September 21: Register in advance for this webinar:

https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZwuf-2oqjkiE9Wd8sqDKiMMHdW2sRE3WytA

Batch 2 September 22: Register in advance for this webinar:

https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZ0rceGgpzwtEt2pQ7lGKs107xKZLozV9Z6L

Batch 3 September 28: Register in advance for this webinar:

https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZ0vdO6vqD0qE9K0r21oo98xTbmQtTTHNHGN

Batch 4 September 29: Register in advance for this webinar:

https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZAtf-GupzIrH9zQQrWPMkNq434t4C_cGJFe

After registering, participants will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting. A digital Certificate of Participation shall also be issued to the participants who completed each of the webinars delivered after also completing the assessment or webinar survey/evaluation forms.

On September 30, CSU’s ITSO shall also conduct the technology pitching through online in the hope of engaging the MSMEs and the Industry in the region. CSU’s technologies to be presented would include agricultural machineries, food and ICT systems.

The ITSO’s core functions revolve around three areas namely:

1.    In support of Intellectual Property (IP) creation by facilitating access to global science and technology information:

•     Serves as a patent search facility and library patent information;

•     Provides skills training in patent searching;

•     Renders patent search services; and

•     Organizes a community of patent information users.

2.   In support of IP protection by promoting domestic and globally-recognized innovations:

•     Provides general information on patents and patenting;

•     Provides skills training in patent drafting and prosecution;

•     Renders patent drafting and prosecution services; and

•     Organizes a community of experts to participate in patent examination.

3.   In support of IP utilization by assisting the commercialization of globally-competitive innovations:

•     Renders IP audit and evaluation services;

•     Provides licensing support;

•     Provides advice on IP management & commercialization strategies; and

•     Be a depository of patent-related documents, papers and statistics.

For more information, the ITSO or the TTLO Facebook Page can be accessed through its website at www.itso.carsu.edu.ph or through its Facebook page through the link: https://www.facebook.com/TTLO.CSU. The TTLO Facebook Page is also being established for the promotional purposes of these webinars. For other information, participants may send an email inquiry to Engr. Jeffrey T. Dellosa, ITSO Manager and TTLO Director of CSU through this email address: jtdellosa@gmail.com.