Manage your energy. Prioritize on what needs immediate action to achieve your goals. Do not let distractions waylay you from abundance and your heart’s desire.
Angel advice cards say:
Count your blessings, be grateful for what you already have and you will discover the amazing generosity of the universe.
Adopt the abundance mindset. See, feel, think and speak of abundance as something you already have in the present moment and that is what you will experience.
Tarot cards: Knight of wands, nine of swords , the devil
Giving in to impulsive behavior as regards to choosing a partner whether it be for business or personal matters may end up with you having to deal with a toxic relationship that robs you of peace.
Angel card advice
Allow healthy, supportive partnerships into your personal life and career and both parties benefit as a result. Take your time to choose wisely. You are receiving help from heaven and from a person who brings needed skills and resources.
Tarot cards : the star, ten of swords, knight of pentacles.
You have bright prospects ahead with the star card. But remember the lessons from your past adversities and failures as you continue to work steadily and consistently towards a goal you have in mind.
Angel card advice
Everything in life is constantly moving and vibrating and therefore continuously evolving and changing. Be aware that a new beginning is in the horizon. Have courage and faith because right now life is trying to nudge you forward and move you in a new direction.
The Empress signifies abundance. You are in a period of development and growth in which all you have dreamed of is now coming to fruition.
When The Empress appears in your Tarot readings, take a moment to reflect on the bounty that surrounds you and offer gratitude for all you have created so you can continue to build on this energy and create even more abundance in your life.
The Empress also suggests pregnancy or birth. This may be an actual childbirth, or a metaphorical ‘birth’ of a new idea or project. Bring your creative ideas into being by nurturing them and supporting their growth.
The reversed Nine of Pentacles is all about self-worth. When you see this card in a Tarot reading, take the opportunity to reflect on your own sense of self-worth and value.
You may be under-charging for your services or accepting a lower salary than you should. Know that you deserve to be wealthy in all facets of the word.
Focus on increasing your sense of self-worth. Invest in yourself. Practice self-love. Even if you are reluctant to spend money on yourself, know you can indulge in life’s luxuries and simple pleasures, particularly if it makes you feel good.
I never planned on becoming a tarot reader. As someone who has been entrenched in the business world and public service for years, it’s an unlikely path.
But as I look back on those times when I was a school teen pouring over esoteric philosophy books at the back of the library; engrossed on stories about quantum physics, you could say I’d be a natural foreteller.
It was during the start of the global pandemic that I finally thought about dabbling in it. The uncertainty around me has pushed me to find solace in spiritual matters and listening to tarot readings.
Just recently, Other tarot readers have encouraged me to pursue the matter and said I’d be very good in this vocation, if you can call it that. It has been only recently that tarot card reading entered the mainstream market. And with the help of social media platforms, its fan base has been steadily growing especially in the USA and Europe.
Now that I’m transitioning from public service to a quiet civilian life, I’ve set up accounts on these online platforms so I can share my talent and knowledge.
I’ll be leaving the organization I’m currently in on the last month of 2023. By that time, you know what I’ll be busy doing. You can find me online on the following social media sites:
The years 2020 and 2021 will always be remembered as those times when entrepreneurs were forced to rethink their business strategies to cope with the most challenging period in economic history.
While medical frontliners and scientists were scrambling to save as many people from the deadly virus, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Philippines were among those given the task of saving as many businesses from closing permanently, while encouraging newly jobless employees to turn to entrepreneurship to survive.
DTI regional and provincial offices, while facilitating smooth flow of supplies of basic necessities to groceries and supermarkets, are also tasked to make sure that prices of these basic necessities are within the Suggested Retail Prices (SRP).
This balancing act of helping business enterprises to continue operating while making sure they follow health protocols is a stressful task for field workers. More so, if they are expected to report regularly to head office.
However, these reports are the basis for how well DTI assistance has positively affected entrepreneurs.
Every year, the DTI Philippines gives tribute to Filipino entrepreneurs by doing free product promotional activities for them.
In Central Visayas, DTI is paying tribute to two entrepreneurs. Getting their story was not an easy task, considering the lockdowns, social distancing and other health protocols that needed to be followed. I would like to thank DTI provincial employees Kyle Durano and Kent Calumba for interviewing these region7 entrepreneurs.
Sandria Cadusale of Sandria’s Delicious Concept
SANDRIA’S DELICIOUS CONCEPT
Sandria Cadusale was already engaged in business as a teenager selling sambag and yema to her friends and classmates.
This passion for entrepreneurship remained with her even when she was employed as an accountant. At this time, Sandria also started selling barquillos, a recipe she learned from her brother-in-law.
While pursuing graduate studies, she sold barquillos to classmates and had her products displayed in office and school canteens. She later ventured in the commissary business with her househelps as employees. Thus, the company Sandria’s Deicious Concept was born.
Sandria’s Delicious Concept is primarily managed by Sanria Rillo-Cadusale and a team of dedicated employees.
It was in 2018 when Sandria joined DTI’s Kapatid Mentor Me Program. This has allowed her to improve the packaging of her products and widen her market reach.
Her graduate school classmates and KMME mentors helped her come up with new product flavors. With her persistence and much improved delicious snack items, Sandria was able to penetrate international markets and Pasalubong Centers.
Sandeia’s company was able to improve not just the packaging of its products but also its labelling with the assistance of DTI’s One Town, One Product (OTOP) program and with the company’s participation in trade fairs.
When the world was put to a halt during the pandemic, Sandria’s business pivoted to packaged food.
Some of her company’s inventory that weren’t shipped out due to restrictions were donated to frontliners and hospitals as ‘gutom savers’. This was also her way of sharing her blessings.
To date, Sandria’s food supply business has grown along with her delicacies. She managed to close deals with corporate accounts. She is currently providing 500 meal packs daily to a big company in Cebu and to stalls of a famous convenience store which also sells her sandwiches, salads, breakfast and frozen meals. Her famous barquiron, barquillos filled with polvoron are also displayed in local malls, and are shipped out internationally. For these reasons, Sandria’s Delicious Concept is able to employ more people and triple sales.
For more information on Sandria’s Delicious Concept, visit the following Facebook page : https://www.facebook.com/sandriasbest/
Rona Denque of Green Thumb Farm
GREEN THUMB FARM
Rona Denque of Corella, Bohol never thought that one day she would be handling pots and bags instead of papers and pens. As a career woman, Rona used her farming skills to de-stress from her lending business. At first, she would harvest her organically grown vegetables for personal consumption and sell some to her friends.
Rona then found herself cultivating oyster mushroom out of curiosity. She did research about the farming process and scoured for information from private individuals who are more knowledgeable. Although most of the public have a negative perception on mushrooms, Rona believed that mushroom farming has big potential in Bohol.
Moving from lending to farming was not easy for Rona. As a budding entrepreneur, she had difficulty in marketing her products outside her circle of friends. She experienced a lot of accumulated harvest that instead of making profit, the mushrooms end up being meal for pigs. Out of desperation, she tried selling them to public markets but to no avail.
Eager to turn things around, she then signed up for a Food Safety Seminars conducted by Negosyo Center-BOSS (Business One Stop Shop) of Bohol. From there she learned how to test the shelf life of her products as well as the right way of handling processed food. From then on, she did not stop acquiring information. With businessfurther assistance from DTI and Negosyo Center, she was able to attend business seminars and trainings, as well as product development. Denque was able to her improve products’ packaging and labeling designs, was provided guidance on food flavor and shelf life with DTI’s resident Food Technologist, as well as availed regular free consultation at the Negosyo Center.
Because of all the help she for, Rona was able to process her mushrooms into chicharon, chili sauce, pickled mushrooms, and tocino. Aside from that, she was able ink deals with major wholesalers in Cebu and Mindanao.
Just as the tide is starting to be in her favor, COVID-19 pandemic struck. As soon as the lockdown was imposed, she had a difficult time disposing of her inventories intended for the National Food Fair. “A substantial number of food products expired,” she said. “But we have to be on the move or else my employees would have nothing on their tables.”
In doing so, Rona joined barter communities for her products to be exchanged with rice and groceries for her employees.
Her desire to help her employees pushed her to strive harder to market her products. One day, Denque noticed how training guests would look for a venue where they could take their lunch after visiting her farm. With the limited capacity of restaurants, the preference of people for open spaces, and the need to unwind after easing of restrictions, Rona and her husband came up with Al Fresco dining.
In just a couple of weeks, the couple transformed their vast vacant lot into a serene and stress-free zone. The al fresco experience serves mushroom-based dishes directly sourced from their mushroom farm. Additionally, as a KMME Mentee Graduate, she was able to collaborate with her co-mentees in providing new offerings. Together with her KMME batch mates, she was able to include desserts and hot beverages in her menu, as well as artisanal soaps for souvenirs. “Collaboration was a key factor tobthe positive response of our restaurant,” Rona said.
At present, the open-air restaurant has expanded its business hours from an appointment only weekends to operating the entire week. This resulted to increasing her workforce and led Denque to hire displaced workers and even a Persons with Disability (PWD). She was also able to provide additional income for the families of her employees by having them assist her in taking care of her mushroom produce. The positive response from customers to her business provided security for her employees and more.
Looking back, Rona Denque admitted that her learnings from DTI helped her navigate the new normal. “The lessons from the trainings especially from KMME were valuable and helpful,” she said. Without those seminars and trainings, Rona added that she would not have thought about adjusting to the current situation and would have simply close her business. “It’s the value of a good mindset and innovation that helped me survive the challenges today, ” she concluded.
Indeed, Sandria Cadusale and Rona Denque are good examples of entrepreneurs who overcame their doubts and achieved success through their own perseverance as well as help of family, friends and agencies such as the DTI.
Cadusale and Denque are DTI Central Visayas’ “Zero to Hero” entrepreneurs for year 2021.
I recently witnessed the turn-over and MOA signing of the Shared Service Facility for the Bohol Island State University DigiFab Center via Zoom, of course.
With the pandemic still raging, I guess we had to settle for a teleconferencing app instead of hopping on a fast craft to Tagbilaran City to witness the event.
To recall, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) launched the country’s first FabLab SSF in Bohol in 2014 here at the Bohol Island State University. So far, the first FabLab in the country helped entrepreneurs in the island to produce travel retail products in short runs, prototype furniture and even a working “printed” house as part of the post-earthquake recovery program of the province.
The 1st Bohol Fablab was funded by the DTI, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), Bohol Island State University (BISU), and the Department of Science and Technology (DOST).
There are currently around 10 FabLabs in Central Visayas : five FabLabs in Cebu, three in Bohol including what we launched on Dec 7, one in Negros Oriental and one in Siquijor. Most of these were made possible through DTI’s shared service facility (SSF) project. Through the SSF, professionals, micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), and the public have access to advance prototyping, printing, and related equipment as well as workshop facilities.
These facilities are actually applicable to everybody and not just to the creative sector or our usual industry sectors. It is definitely applicable to the academe such as the Negros Oriental State University, Siquijor State College, Cebu Technological University, Bohol Island State University and the University of Philippines Cebu, The FabLabs give art and design students tools that they can use to make their ideas come to life. Many have already attended trainings at FabLabs in the region and have benefited from this shared facility.
Although it is not required that one knows how to use them, One is taught how to use these machines. That is the education and community resource part.
Fab Labs stimulate creativity and entrepreneurship, which is exactly what Central Visayas has to develop from its base of artisanal assets. It is also what the DTI is encouraging. Fab Labs go beyond artists and entrepreneurs to anyone else who is interested and wants to learn how to use them as well to experiment and create.
Photos taken from the Fab Lab Bohol Facebook page
At the national level, fab labs in the country provide product designing and rapid prototyping, digital fabrication, design consultation and assessment services, innovation awareness activities, research, archiving and documentation of product design and art, trainings and workshops for makers, students and visitors.
For years now, Philippine fabrication laboratories have serviced maker projects including a 3D hazard map for Bantayan Island in Cebu, a collapsible refugee home scale model, GripAID Grip Assistant Device and CNC’d surfboards, among others. The fablabs have hosted workshops, community building makeathons to build Precious Plastic recycling machines. The makers also helped produce hundreds of PPEs for Filipino frontliners during the 2020 global health crisis.
Fablabs are a growing trend worldwide and are characterized by the collaboration of sharing and building ideas, rather than just the tools and equipment within the Makerspaces.
For years, this maker movement has transformed consumers into people who create, produce, and innovate. In many ways, the Maker movement in the Philippines represents a logical extension of synthesis of current trends in education and manufacturing such as active learning, problem based learning, team based learning, and community-service learning.
We envision all our fabrication laboratories to grow as spaces for digital innovation in the country become a major part of the global Maker Network. In order to continually effect positive change in our society, the Philippine Fablabs shall gradually assume a bigger role in the international makerspace community, a unique place where people converge to make things happen.
Apart from providing access to personal fabrication tools and equipment, our Makerspaces shall also hold more relevant maker-themed workshops and activities. Fab Labs in the Philippines are already buzzing with activity as makers young and old churn out complex projects. This is our vision for an Integrated Makerspace Network – to break technological barriers and give the next generation an opportunity to be part of a technology-driven future through the development of critical 21st century skills.
Some of our universities have already partnered with industry to provide support for their makerspaces. There is general agreement that the maker movement has a strong potential to positively impact not just university education but also business. Some educational settings now focus on having students identify a problem and creating a tool or machine to solve the problem, while yet others aim to provide a “material toolbox” and allow students to independently develop fluency and push the technology in the direction they wish. The heart of the maker movement is strongly aligned with theories of “constructionist” activity or “learning-by-doing” which are accepted successful learning principles.
What is remarkable about Fablabs today is that anyone and everyone can be makers and innovators. I think of the makerspace global network as a meeting place or a converging point where people with a passion for making and inventing – hobbyists, artists, engineers, product designers, software developers, musicians, students, teachers, parents, grandparents – can gather to learn, share, create, invent, modify, improve, and discover products using cutting-edge technologies, basic and advanced materials, and powerful but readily-accessible software.
Let us not forget that our own community of makers have been helping the country in these trying times by providing our healthcare workers with locally-fabricated PPEs.
Our makers have also used the Fab Labs for self-directed learning, a haven for people who learn best by doing. This is because our makerspaces’ hands-on nature, paired with many tools and raw materials, reinforce invention and provide the ultimate workshop for the tinkerer. The synergy among builders and inventors at these facilities has encouraged a highly collaborative learning stimulus that is best for team effort and for peer encouragement, suggestion, and support.
Now with the launching of new FabLabs and makerspaces, people of diverse fields and backgrounds can use these to discover new skills, brushing up on old ones, creating products for business, or simply making for the sake of making. The cross-disciplinary dynamics make individual participation crucial and constructive. Each one will now get to enjoy the hands-on use of high-tech gizmos, and commune with the team of like-minded tinkerers worldwide, allowing an idea or design to be realized into fruition.
Makerspaces are meant to augment the problem of the high costs of prototype creation: time, effort and money. This is where future industry leaders can transform ideas into tangible products or services that provide solutions to identified problems.
If there is a common element among spaces that truly foster the maker mentality, it’s that collaboration piece. People don’t have to feel like they are working alone in their garage. In a well designed makerspace, they can now look over somebody’s shoulder to see what they’re working on or get help virtually from someone in another country, and that might trigger something that fits into something they are working on or thinking about.
Makerspaces are the next step in the educational, manufacturing and community transformation. In a world of do-it-yourselfers, everyone receives hands-on experiences and opportunities outside a textbook. Our makerspaces help enhance collaborative environments by sharing ideas and instructions. This networking and helpfulness in turn leads to enrichment of other communities and teams and the ability to make positive changes in society and, eventually, the world.
Our ultimate goal is that with the FabLabs, our economic growth story will continue in a post-COVID future. We are confident that the SSF for the Digifab Center will relay a clear message across to the rest of the Philippines that Bohol is innovative, dynamic and resilient. Now, more than ever, we are ready to roll up our sleeves and make things happen for our fellow makers.
The recent soft launching of the Kalibutan Project at Montebello Villa Hotel got me all excited by what’s in store for us creative Cebuanos !
The Kalibutan Project is a design community initiative to address specific problems that MSMEs are facing during this pandemic.
Spearheaded by the DTI Region 7 Central Visayas, supported by the DTI – Design Center of the Philippines with the participation of a select group of product and communication designers.
For the last 500 years, the city of Cebu, home to a population of 923,000, has been a hub of trade, culture and innovation. Traditionally known for furniture, arts and crafts, and fashion design, Cebu is generally considered to be the country’s design capital.
In recent years, Cebu has also become a global hub for multimedia arts and IT outsourcing. In 2008, Cebu was designated a British Council Creative City of Design and was the ASEAN City of Culture in 2015.
Cebu City has always been very supportive of the arts, best epitomized by Sinulog – the country’s longest-running festival that attracts 2 million visitors annually, showcasing Cebuano heritage and imagination.
The first Cebu Design Week in 2018 ignited a multi-disciplinary, multi-format series of events that connected the fragmented creative ecosystem, providing opportunities for the creation, collaboration and development of long-term platforms for sustainable development. These events were perhaps the most significant owing to their promoting of cross-sectoral collaborations and multi-disciplinary approaches to achieving unique and effective results that are socially-inclusive, environmentally-respectful and economically-sustainable.
In this new normal, the Department of Trade and Industry Philippines Region 7 (DTI 7) has been doing more than merely rebooting economies and livelihoods after the massive losses brought on by the pandemic. We expect our recovery initiatives to also improve a community’s resilience.To be sure, DTI 7 and other government agencies, as well as big businesses have a large role to play in introducing policies and large-scale initiatives to address major concerns. However, this does not preclude creative individuals, local design communities and small businesses from doing their part.
Photos taken from DTI Cebu Facebook page
Get more information on how the DTI 7 has been helping the craft, design communities through the Kalibutan Project. Visit the website at https://www.kalibutanproject.com/
Too often, sustainability and resilience is misconstrued to be just about the environment when in fact, one must factor in the economic and social dimensions — which are both equally important. Utilizing this framework, we should also examine what the key metrics are for each dimension as clearly explained in the website designcebu.com
Initiatives usually span more than one dimension and can result in multiple positive outcomes but ultimately, they will lead to enhanced social well-being and genuine sustainable progress.
Before we continue let us first examine the four phases of disaster response so we have a better context of the situation.
REACTION: Also called the mitigation phase, this is the first juncture that immediately occurs after an external shock. It is at this stage that the impacted individuals or communities attempt to limit the adverse effects that come with the particular disaster.
ADAPTATION: In this stage, those affected cope, learn and adjust to the situation by altering habits, mechanisms and lifestyles.
RECOVERY: At this point, disaster victims begin to recuperate and convalesce in the many different aspects of their lives.
RESILIENCE: Long term fortitude is achieved when new habits, processes and systems that were established to initially cope with the disaster become entrenched and are institutionalized.
After nearly two years of COVID19, the Philippines still lags the rest of the world in recovery. However, most of would agree that, as of this writing, the country, as a whole, is somewhere between recovery and resilience.
Let me reiterate what creative entrepreneur Gil Zaire “Butch” Carungay stated in his written article Pandemic Recovery by Design. ” In order for us to formulate recovery and resilience strategies, it is also important for us to understand the dynamic interrelations among various personal and environmental factors. Called social-economic models, these were introduced in the 1970s as a concept, formalized as a theory in the 1980s and is best associated with the Russian-born American psychologist Urie Bronfenbrenner.
These systems contend that one thing always affects another and nothing happens in a vacuum. It is therefore necessary to take into account all these layers as we explore ways on how we, as designers, can indeed help build back better.
1. Lifelong Learning & Upskilling In the information age, knowledge is the most valuable currency and accessing it has never been easier. It is therefore incumbent upon us to continue to educate ourselves build on our skill sets and apply them in valuable ways. It is also important share the accumulated learnings with others – whether they be in your family unit, your business or your community at large.
2. Boost Hyper-Collaboration One good offshoot of COVID-19 is that it has accelerated the rate of digital adoption – leapfrogging development, in some estimates, by about five years. This means that the number of people utilizing all these new apps and tools have reached a critical mass. This phenomenon has ushered in a new era of hyper-collaboration that have no signs of abating. Whether its for knowledge exchange, inspiration or just being part of a support group, these different types of working together have increased exponentially because tech has facilitated the ease and efficiency of gathering people online.
3. Leverage Technology In addition to enabling hyper-collaboration, tech has also hastened the pace and improved the quality of design, manufacturing, evaluation and feedback mechanisms. Industry 4.0 which arrived unevenly in 2016 is in the throes of widespread adoption – computer aided design is standard, rapid prototyping is common and social media feedback is rampant. The advent of digital makerspaces have also improved inclusivity by allowing designers who do no have access manufacturing facilities to realize and actualize their ideas.
4. Acknowledge and Address the Digital Divide With technology being so pervasive in our daily lives, it is therefore necessary for designers to introduce open innovations, hybrid approaches and binary solutions so no one is truly left behind.
5. Community-Based Design It has been demonstrated that almost everyone has the potential to be a designer. It is thus important for designers to engage with their local communities.
6. Designing for Circularity The concept of circular economies that disrupt the tradition linear model of production and consumption have been around for a while. However, unlike most of the aforementioned topics, the circular economy movement has been adversely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic due to the need for single-use personal and protective equipment and the sure in online shopping and food take-out and deliveries. “
I hope that the concepts and explanations I’ve posted here are able to inspire businesses to embed some of these practices in their recovery strategies.
Turns out, tapping into our creative energy can actually improve our overall health. Simply engaging in creative behaviors improves brain function, mental health, and physical health.
So, if creativity is good for our body, it probably is good for business too.
When COVID-19 pandemic struck businesses worldwide, social media channels served as saving grace for entrepreneurs and content creators to survive. But as much as it enabled legitimate users to market and sell their products, social media platforms also widened opportunities for counterfeiters and online pirates.
At the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL), counterfeiting and piracy complaints from intellectual property (IP) rights holders and reports from the concerned public surged to a record high of 121 in 2020, as reported by IPOPHL in its website. This exceeds the 2016 to 2019 total received.
You may be surprised at how many aspects of business can be protected when the entrepreneur registers with the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL), an attached agency of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI). Name and logo, designs, inventions, works of creative or intellectual effort or trade marks that distinguish the business can all be types of Intellectual Property (IP) that need protection.
Some IP rights are automatically safeguarded by IP law, but there are also other types of legal protection a business owner can apply for.
So what is IP ? Intellectual property refers to intangible creations of the mind, such as inventions; literary and artistic works; designs; and symbols, names and images used in commerce. Generally, all companies own some form of intellectual property.
But why is this important? Intellectual property rights and registrations allow companies to protect their core business, research and development activities, while creating a stronger negotiating posture for cross-licensing and counterclaims. Intellectual property rights and registrations also allow a company to block competitive products, dissuade potential entrants and clear a technological path for future market share.
Protecting your company is just one of the benefits of registering intellectual property – it also allows you to build value. Intellectual property is counted as an asset when determining the value of a company and can even be used as collateral for a loan.
Do you have an innovation that’s new, inventive, and can be used in industry? You can protect it through patent.
Is your innovation new and useful in industry but may not be inventive enough? This can still be protected as a utility model. Find out how to apply for patent protection of a utility model.
Are you in the field of visual design and looking to protect your work? New or original designs may be protected as industrial designs. Learn how you can apply for industrial designs at the IPOPHL website.
If you’re a business, distinguishing your goods or services from others may be a competitive advantage. You need a trademark and have this protected.
Copyright Protection for your literary, artistic, or scientific work is automatic from the moment you create it. Registration isn’t necessary but if you want physical proof to show a work is yours, you may want to deposit your copyrighted work with the IPOPHL.
For other services, IPOPHL can also arrange technology, transfer, resolve intellectual property disputes, and create a patent landscape report for your business.
To exploit your IP fully to your advantage, it makes strong business sense to do all you can to secure it. You can then:
• protect it against infringement by others and ultimately defend it in courts for your sole right to use, make, sell or import it
• stop others using, making, selling or importing it without your permission
• earn royalties by licensing it
• exploit it through strategic alliances
• make money by selling it
The Intellectual Property Office (IPO) Philippines offers a number of online tools which can help you better understand your IP rights.
Screenshot of Zoom interview with IPSO field officers Nerissel Mahidlawon and Nathaniel Amores.
Thereare general categories of intellectual property that entrepreneurs should protect:
• Trademarks: Trademarks identify the origin or source of goods and/or services.
• Patents: Patents grant exclusive rights to exploit inventions for a period of time. Novel processes and/or compositions created by a company may rise to the level of patentable inventions that can be registered with the IPOPHL or may constitute trade secrets of the company.
• Copyrights: Copyrights protect original creative expressions or works of authorship. Text, artwork, designs or combinations of these items created by a company are copyrights which can be registered with the IPOPHL.
If the entrepreneur doesn’t protect his/ her company’s intellectual property by conducting the necessary searches or applying for applicable registrations, the company is at much greater risk of infringement, meaning a third party could prevent the entrepreneur from using her/ his intellectual property, such as company name or logo. Alternatively, entrepreneur may not be deemed the owner of the rights in the website or other work product created for his/ her company by independent contractors, even if the work is paid for by the company.
If the opportunity arises to sell the company or seek investment, not owning or having valid and enforceable protection of company intellectual property can negatively affect a transaction.
Currently, the agency is promoting its “Juana make a mark” program. “Juana Make a Mark” is a trademark registration incentive program that allows the eligible Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) to have their trademarks registered at a reduced cost.
Through this program, IPOPHL aims to instill the ‘first-mover filing’ mindset amongst MSMEs –that is, to file for trademark registration before establishing a business to ensure availability of and secure exclusivity over the mark before the enterprise incurs expenses related to promoting its goods or services such as for packaging and marketing. Benefits in availing the program include saving as much as P2,400. The “Juana Make a Mark” program waives the payment of the following fees: basic filing fees (PHP1,212), fees for claim of color (PHP282.00), publication fee (PHP909).
Beneficiary MSMEs of “Juana make a mark” program must pass the following set of eligibility criteria:
• women-led enterprise
• Engaged in business activities considered as priority sectors by DTI or by IPOPHL
• Business is located in areas prone to natural disaster or facing social and economic challenges
• Business names registered by DTI
• With at most two (2) unregistered marks used on goods and services
• No more than five (5) employees
• Engaged in business for at least one (1) year or with limited financial capability or other similar conditions indicating inadequate financial capacity
Priority sectors for “Juana make a mark” program are:
• Agri-business: food and resource-based processing
• Aerospace parts
• Automotive ang auto spareparts
• Chemicals
• Electronic manufacturing and semi-conductor manufacturing services
• Construction
• Design-oriented furniture and garments
• Shipbuilding (RORO, small or medium-sized vessels)
• IT and Business Process Management
• Tool and Die
• Tourism
• Transport and Logistics
For those interested to avail of benefits under the “Juana make a mark” program, fill out the Trademark Registration Incentive Package for Waiver of Fees and Trademark Application Form found at IPOPHL website. Also, submit the form and all required attachments at any DTI business office. Secure DTI endorsement of application to IPOPHL. Submit the application to the Intellectual Property Satellite Officer. For more information and clarification, call (02) 236 6300 local 8602 or send an email to ipso@ipophil.gov.ph
One advice I would give any small company just starting its business is to invest in intellectual property on the front end. This is a good IP registration is a good move for new business owners.
Visit IPOPHL, the government agency mandated to administer and implement State policies on intellectual property (IP) to strengthen the protection of IP rights in the Philippines through its website https://www.ipophil.gov.ph/
Two of pentacles, eight of wands and the star
