TO CREATE more intellectual property professionals, Ateneo de Manila University’s School of Law signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines.

The MOU, signed recently by IPOPHL Director General Rowel Barba and ALS Dean Jose Maria Hofileña, will ensure that the Ateneo’s Master of Laws-Intellectual Property program and other programs maintain an international standard of knowledge and skills relevant to global and local IP laws and trends to generate more skilled practitioners.

“We all know that ALS not only offers students the tools and opportunity to develop their full potential and broaden their horizons. But more admirably, the institution is effective in challenging the next generation to drive development in society,” Barba said.

“This is why it is such a privilege to join hands today with the ALS and secure its commitment to help IPOPHL in its mandate of promoting IP as a tool for technological progress and economic growth,” she added.

Under the agreement, IPOPHL will support ALS in the accreditation of its LLM-IP program by the World IP Organization Academy. It will also promote ALS’ LLM-IP program to its own partners in government, academe and professional communities.

IPOPHL will also explore the possibilities of upskilling some of its qualified personnel through this program.

Meanwhile, the Ateneo will encourage its students to take their internship at IPOPHL; promote IP as a major topic for research projects including thesis papers; support and promote IPOPHL’s learning, training and research programs; and promote IPOPHL as a major partner in the LLM-IP program.

The school will also explore the possibility of providing assistance and support such as scholarships or grants to widen the student base of its LLM-IP.