IP Expert

Overview

MARIA GLADYS C. VILCHEZ, a founding Partner of HBVAR, is primarily involved in IPR protection and enforcement, including litigation before the Intellectual Property Office (IPOPHIL) and the courts. She has successfully handled various IP cases, including a recent landmark case that changed trademark jurisprudence in the Philippines. She provides legal counselling, due diligence and documentation services for commercial transactions, including technology transfer and licensing. Prior to HBVAR, she worked as Chief Hearing Officer at the Bureau of Legal Affairs of the IPOPHIL, charged with the administrative adjudication of IPR violation cases, trademark opposition/cancellation and patents/UM cancellation cases.

Ms. Vilchez serves as consultant to several Department of Science and Technology (DOST) agencies and DOST-funded RDIs, providing advice for setting up technology licencing offices and crafting of institutional IP policies. Since 2016, she has been a consultant of the DOST Technology Application and Promotion Institute in the implementation of its IPR application/prosecution, technology transfer and IPR enforcement programs.

Ms. Vilchez is an IP practitioner at the forefront of ADR, being an Accredited Mediator at the IPOPHIL and an Accredited Neutral of the WIPO-Arbitration and Mediation Center. She is a regular resource person for ADR trainings conducted by the Office of Alternative Dispute Resolution under the Department of Justice.

An advocate of IP education and promotion, Ms. Vilchez, has been teaching IP Law at the Far Eastern University Institute of Law since 2016. She also conducted several studies in support of national IPR policy formulation, funded by the USAID Trade Assistance for Development (TRADE) and the International Development Research Centre (Canada).

Ms. Vilchez is a Trustee and was past President of the Intellectual Property Alumni Association (IPAA) an association of alumni who trained under the Japan Patent Office and the Japan Institute for Promoting Invention and Innovation (JIPII). She is a member of the IP Collegium, an organization of IP experts from the private sector in the APIC region, organized by the JIPII, and a member of the Licensing Executive Society (Philippines).