By Alex Villafania
INQUIRER.net
IN AN EFFORT to promote intellectual property rights (IPR) and encourage scientists and engineers to develop more technology innovations, science journalists have tied up with the Philippine Intellectual Property Office (IPOPHIL) to conduct seminars for science reporters and other media groups.
The IPOPHIL and the Philippine Science Journalists (PsciJourn) conducted the first media IPR Forum at the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology building at the University of the Philippines Diliman last October 25.
Here’s a video of IPOHIL director general Adrian Cristobal Jr. (left) and PsciJourn president Angelo Palmones.
The whole-day affair focused on the various aspects of intellectual property rights, and the differences and values of trademarks, copyright and patents.
In an interview with INQUIRER.net, Cristobal said the partnership would be the first time the agency will directly deal with the media in promoting intellectual property rights and protection.
Cristobal said he intends to work with other media groups, especially business writers, to give them a better understanding of the county’s intellectual property system.
He explained that there is a need for inventors, researchers, engineers and scientists to innovate and create new products that may bolster both the intellectual capacity and economic development of the country.
“It’s the media who will give us the leverage to tell inventors and engineers what to do,” Cristobal said.
Palmones said that while the IP system is an important subject in media coverage, very few journalists actually cover or even understand it.
“That’s why we’re here; to make them understand it themselves and impart knowledge to the people who listen or read them,” he said.
Palmones said among the group’s plans is the holding of workshops with educational institutions that have broadcast media or journalism courses, to expose the younger generation of journalists to the IP system and related concepts.
October 25th, 2007 at 8:42 pm
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