Philippines - Extension of Deadlines for Filings with the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL)

a. The IPOPHL has issued IPOPHL Memorandum Circular No. 2020-011 (Updated Advisory on IPOPHL Services in Light of the Extension of the Enhanced Community Quarantine to 15 May 2020) dated April 27, 2020. [14]
 
b. The advisory provides the following extensions for filing of papers, pleadings, documents, and payments falling due from March 16, 2020 to May 15, 2020 for:
 
(i) For deadlines falling from March 16, 2020 to March 31, 2020, submissions may be filed until May 31, 2020.
 
(ii) For deadlines falling from April 1, 2020 to May 15, 2020, filing is extended for a period of sixty (60) calendar days from the due date.
 
c. The extension set out in (b) above does not cover the following:
 
(i) “Filings and proceedings in relation to the voluntary surrender of patents, utility models, and industrial designs… To facilitate the processing, formal requirement on verification shall be complied with upon resumption of normal operations.”
(ii) “For invention, utility model, industrial design and trademark applications claiming priority date, online filing must be used to comply with the prescribed period for claiming of priority date.”
 
d. There is a 60-day period extension of the “[p]ayment of filing fees including claim for convention priority fees of new applications for patents, utility models, industrial designs, and trademarks, with or without the claim of priority date, which are filed through the IPOPHL electronic filing systems,” and the extended period will be counted from the due date. “If the 60th day falls on a weekend or holiday, payment shall be on the next working day. The date when the application was filed online shall be deemed the filing date. However, applicants may still pay using the online payment system upon filing.”
 
e. The Advisory also provides that “[a]ll scheduled hearings before the IPOPHL, including mediation, shall remain suspended until [May 15, 2020].”
 
f. The IPOPHL reminds the public that “[n]ew applications for patents, utility models, industrial designs, and trademarks from [March 16, 2020] to [May 15, 2020] may be filed online through the IPOPHL electronic filing system but processing shall commence upon resumption of work. No manual filing shall be accepted during the said period.”
 
g. IPOPHL personnel will continue to work-from-home arrangement until [May 15, 2020]. The IPOPHL also advises that “[t]he operations of the documentary receiving sections of IPOPHL are suspended. Letters, queries, or any other written communications may be filed on the next working day after the effectivity of the enhanced community quarantine.”
 
 
For more information about IPOPHL issuances, please contact your account partner or the author of this client bulletin:

Vida M. Panganiban-Alindogan
Partner; Head of the Intellectual Property Department
[email protected]

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