TAGUIG - The Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL), with the support of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), is exploring to move its mission-critical IP registration services to the cloud in 2024, aiming to improve internal processes and efficiencies in data management, a press release stated by IPOPHL.

IPOPHL Director General Rowel S. Barba shared this at a side event at WIPO’s 64th General Assemblies where the IP offices of Norway and Uganda also discussed their respective digital transformation initiatives. Barba shared IPOPHL’s experiences in using the current version of the IP Administration System (IPAS), its limitations, pain points, as well as his wish list for the new IPAS 4.0 implementation.

The IPAS is a software developed and owned by WIPO and is offered to IP offices under collaborative arrangements for its provision, hosting and maintenance. The software enables the electronic processing of IP registration documents and is customizable to adopt internal work flows that reflect an office’s rules and procedures.
The most recent release known as IPAS version 4.0 will be exclusively hosted in an Amazon Web Services (AWS) based in the EU.

Meanwhile, an earlier version, the IPAS 3.x was installed in IPOPHL in the early days of 2012 and is now showing its age. Barba reiterated that upgrading to IPAS 4.0, though very challenging, is the most logical choice for IPOPHL.
“We know that the majority of the features previously missing in IPAS 3.x now come built-in as part of the IPAS 4.0 package. It is also expected to include workflow fixes that had resulted in downtimes in the old version.

Barba revealed that WIPO has already committed to exploring how it can best support IPOPHL’s new requirements as the latter transitions to the latest IPAS version. WIPO has already given IPOPHL access to navigate the IPAS 4 test version by end-July, allowing the Office more time to prepare for the transition.

“We are truly grateful to WIPO for its valuable technical assistance. We hope to engage with them soon to have a deeper exchange on the level of support we will need to implement IPAS 4. We want to transition smoothly and sustain it at minimal costs and disruption as we move toward greater ICT ambitions in the long term,” Barba added.