The Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL) issued IPOPHL Memorandum Circular No. 2020-031, which provides that to prevent further disruption of operations and rendering of services, all pleadings and submissions in IP Rights Violations (IPV) and Inter Partes cases (IPC) filed with the Bureau of Legal Affairs (BLA) shall be filed electronically via email — blareceiving@ipophil.gov.ph.
IPCs are the following:
- oppositions to applications for the registration of trademark or service mark;
- petitions to cancel the registrations of trademarks or service marks;
- petitions to cancel invention patents, utility model registrations, industrial design registrations, or any claim or parts of a claim, and registrations of topography or layout design of integrated circuits; and
- petitions for compulsory licensing.
On the other hand, IPVs are violations of laws involving intellectual property rights.
The full text of IPOPHL Memorandum Circular No. 2020-031 is available [here].