VSU bags Gold Award at 2025 ITSO Summit

 This year, the Visayas State University (VSU) celebrates a proud milestone as it was honored with the prestigious Gold Award from the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL) during the 2025 ITSO Presidents’ Summit and General Assembly held on April 10, 2025.

VSU stood out among state universities and colleges (SUCs) for its proactive approach in registering patents and utility models, as well as in supporting start-ups and spin-offs that promote sustainable technologies and community-based enterprises through capability building initiatives.

“This Gold Award signifies not just our excellence in research, but our resolve to turn ideas into solutions that benefit our farmers, our communities, business partners, and the broader public. We are deeply honored by this recognition from IPOPHL,” VSU President Dr. Prose Ivy G. Yepes said. 

Over the past years, VSU has consistently strengthened its ITSO to actively promote intellectual property (IP) education among faculty, researchers, and students. 

Through regular IP clinics, workshops, and collaboration with other agencies, the university has successfully increased its filings and bolstered innovation-driven enterprises across Eastern Visayas. 

The Road to Gold and the Drive Toward Platinum

From the Silver Award in 2024, it climbed up to Gold Award this year. This is one of the IPHOPHL’s highest distinctions given to VSU for having filed seven (7) patents, eight (8) utility models and successfully registered five (5) utility models. 

In addition, ITSO's accomplishments such as  12 awareness seminars,  two (2) patent search training, one (1) patent drafting writeshop, and 24 patent search reports added points to land as Gold Awardee. 

VSU was just one step away from reaching the Platinum Award. Had the university submitted even a single Technology Licensing Agreement (TLA), it would have met the final requirement to earn this top distinction from IPOPHL. 

The implementation of the program entitled “Regional Agri-Aqua Innovation System Enhancement for Region 8” funded by the Department of Science and Technology-Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development (DOST-PCAARRD) can be instrumental in hitting the Platinum Award.

Despite this, Innovation Director Dr. Feliciano G. Sinon is grateful for this recognition. 

“We have come this far in advancing innovation. But it also challenges us to push further and turn technologies into tools that truly matter for people and communities,” he added. 

The Gold Award is a fruition of the effort exerted by the Innovation Office, headed by Dr. Feliciano G. Sinon and the support of Ms. Maria Louella C. Tambis, Head of the Innovation and Technology Support Office (ITSO), and Ms. Julie Bee M. Aguinaldo, Head of the Knowledge Products and Commercialization Office / Technology Business Incubation (KPCO/TBI). 

The award was personally received by President Yepes together with Ms. Aguinaldo. 

This article is aligned with the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4: Quality Education, and; SDG 9: Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure.

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