IP Expert

Overview

Neptali “Nep” L. Bulilan is co-managing partner of Sapalo Velez Bundang and Bulilan (SVBB) Law Offices and heads the firm’s intellectual property department. A licensed mechanical engineer, certified patent valuation analyst, and lawyer, he has more than 36 years of experience in patent, trademark  and copyright matters. He also handles plant variety applications; patent valuation, including freedom-to-operate searches and opinions; technology transfer licensing; enforcement; and other related IP matters.

Before joining SVBB, Bulilan served as senior patent examiner and hearing officer at the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL). As head of the firm’s IP department, he has represented foreign and local clients in renewable energy, transportation, pharmaceuticals, agrochemicals, building construction, and heating and ventilation technology. He has also assisted the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) in obtaining patents for technologies developed by its research institutions and DOST-assisted individual inventors. He serves as a legal expert of the Fairness Opinion Board (FOB) on technology transfer transactions. Bulilan is one of the founders of the Philippine Association of Certified Patent Agents (PACPA), a former vice-president for Internal Affairs of the Philippine Society of Mechanical Engineers (PSME), and a foreign member of the American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA). He has completed relevant training courses conducted by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), European Patent Office, Australian Patent Office, Japanese Patent Office, Korean Patent Office, and the Centre for International Intellectual Property Studies (CEIPI) in Strasbourg, France. He also completed the Advanced International Certificate Course on IP Asset Management for Business Success conducted by KIPO and WIPO.