In line with the technology commercialization efforts of the College of Agriculture and Food Science (CAFS) – Generation of Innovative Landscape for Agriventure Solutions (GILAS), the College conducted a “Capacity Building Workshop on Invention Disclosure and Patent Drafting”  on March 27 to 29 at The Bayleaf Cavite in General Trias, Cavite. This was in partnership with the UPLB Technology Transfer and Business Development Office (TTBDO) and the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL).

Dean Elpidio M. Agbisit, Jr., in his welcome remarks, stated that there is a need to upgrade our extension programs in terms of technology for the stakeholders to benefit from these advancements in agriculture. He added that in order for an organization to move forward, it will require a lot of funding. 

Dean Agbisit further added that as a Land Grant University, the government has provided UPLB lands to develop and earn income from it to sustain its instruction, research, and extension programs. He also shared that sources of funding from well-off universities abroad come from the alumni and the income from the developed technologies of faculty and researchers. He remarked that it is unfortunate that income from patents is not a top source for CAFS and the University. Hence, he emphasized the need to look into technologies that can be shared to the masses but need to also look into technologies that can be developed, commercialized, and patented. 

Dean Agbisit also reminded the participants that research papers to be published through the International Publication Award (IPA) is one time big time but the technology developed and patented is lifetime for the researcher,  for the College, and the University as well. Lastly, he enjoined the participants to transfer their learnings to their colleagues and to their respective units.

Dr. Lilia Fernando-Corpuz, CAFS associate dean for research and extension and the lead of GILAS presented the objective of the workshop which is to make the research/technology of the participants market-ready. For the three-day activity, the participants were expected to come up with a Prior Art Search, Draft of Patent Claim, and Invention Disclosure of one technology. She explained that patentability has three characteristics namely: novelty, inventive step, and industrial applicability. She emphasized that the patent search and drafting workshop aims to determine if a technology is patentable and will provide practical knowhow in drafting a patent application. As food for thought for the participants, Dr. Fernando ended her talk with this quote from Steve Jobs, “We learn continually, there is always one more thing to learn.”

Serving as the resource speaker of the three-day workshop was Asst. Prof. Gee Jay C. Bartolome, a licensed agricultural and bio-systems engineer and faculty staff in one of the campuses of Cavite State University (CvSU). Staff from UPLB-TTBO led by Ms. Arrianne Mae L. Magistrado, a university extension associate were also present to assist in the workshop.

Day 1 of the workshop was focused on the discussion of the speaker about Patent Search. According to Engr. Bartolome, a patent search is a search for a specific information or set of information, document, or set of documents which satisfy a specific set of requirements and objectives relevant to a given invention, patent application, technology or idea for research. It is also a subset of the wider prior art search. 

Engr. Bartolome defined prior art search as an organized review of prior art materials available from public sources. In this topic, the participants learned the types of searches and the comparison of technical features  or elements of the invention.  This was followed by a discussion on “How to Prepare Technology Disclosures for Intellectual Property (IP) Protection and Exploitation where the participants learned the motivations that sets the fate of the IP protection. The afternoon session was a workshop on the preparation of prior art searches and invention disclosure which was later on followed by the presentation of output of Day 1 with the insights and recommendations of the resource speaker.

Day 2 topics included Invention spotting or identifying prior arts; patent/claim drafting and its importance; statutory basis for patents and claims. Meanwhile, the TTBDO discussed about technopreneurship evaluation process as additional information for the participants. The afternoon session was a workshop where the group worked on patent claims and patent draft.

Day 3 morning session was a continuation of the workshop on Day 2. The afternoon session delved on the presentation of outputs of the participants on patent claim and patent draft which was critiqued by Mr. Dindo Dumali, an intellectual property rights specialist and a certified patent agent of the IPOPHL.

The following were the technologies/outputs of the participants with patent claims and patent draft:

1. Entomopathogenic nematode culture for management of  Lepidopterous pests of corn by IWEP;
2. Spray dried calamansi juice powder and methods of preparation thereof by IFST;
3. Formulation and processing  method of bottled egg custard by IFST;
4. Solar-powered mobile refrigeration equipment for agricultural products by PHTRC;
5. Ready to drink passion fruit-bignay juice blend by IFST; 
6. Corn and soya-based organic feed ration for poultry production, methods of making and methods of use thereof by IAS;
7. ONES: Organic Nanofertilizer Enhanced Solution by LGRTS;
8. Rapid Colorometric Detection Kit for Organophosphate Residues on Vegetables and Fruits using treated Filter Papers by NCPC;
9. Banana Harvest Date Estimator by ICropS;
10. Soil Test Kit (STK) for Qualitative Analysis of Soil Fertility Evaluation by ASI;
11. QTLs associated to corn downy mildew resistance towards development of markers thereof by IPB;
12. Sequencing primers for quick identification and discrimination of Bactrocera dorsalis and Bactrocera occipitalis by IPB; and
13. Goat cheese with pineapple bits and its method of preparation by DTRI. 

Meanwhile, on their key takeaways in the workshop, two of the three representatives of the participants commented that the workshop was a good opportunity for them. However, they expressed reservation on filing first for patent as the University requires the researchers to publish for promotion purposes. The other participant remarked that while the workshop was going on, he came to realize that there are still many things to do on the outputs that have been started.

The workshop was attended by 37 participants who came from the different units of CAFS. Also present during the workshop were Dr. Emil John C. Cabrera, director of TTBDO and Dr. Teddy F. Tepora, manager of CvSU-Innovation and Technology Support Office.

Closing the activity was Dr. Corpuz who lauded the first batch of CAFS-GILAS participants for a very productive learning experience.  She also took pride in saying that CAFS is the first unit in UPLB that has conducted this kind of capacity building workshop with TTBDO and IPOPHL. As next step to this activity, Dr. Corpuz enjoined the participants to accomplish a Deed of Assignment and Royalty Sharing forms for the Invention Disclosure to be submitted to TTBDO officially. In response to the worry of some participants about filing first for patent ahead of the publication of the technology/invention, she advised them to go for IP if they feel that the research is market-ready. However, if they feel that there are still lots of improvement during the early stage of the research, they can file for publication. Lastly, she thanked the UPLB-TTBDO, IPOPHL and Engr. Bartolome for sharing their expertise with CAFS.

by Imelda M. Gesmundo (first published on Aggie Green and Gold June issue; minor corrections were done)