The International Intellectual Property Institute (IIPI) is holding a side event at WIPO today on the  margins of the WIPO Committee on Development and Intellectual Property (CDIP) on "Missed Opportunities for Patenting in Developing Countries" and "Innovation Opportunities in the Philippines".

The program flyer for the event notes that this initiative is a "joint project between the Intellectual Property Institute (IIPI) and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO)".

The two speakers include Bruce A. Lehman [1], President and Chairman of IIPI and Charles A. Schwartz [2], a "consultant working with IIPI."

The program flyer notes that the goal of the joint project between IIPI and USPTO is to "facilitate economic growth in the Philippines by sharing the United States successful experience with technology transfer. IIPI help the Philippines identify patentable inventions, prosecute patent applications on inventions internationally, and monetize patented inventions through licensing and other techniques".

As noted in a KEI blog dated 13 September 2010, in 2009, the USPTO granted IIPI 1,728,500.00 US dollars. One wonders about the cost of the joint USPTO-IIPI project on "Innovation Opportunities in the Philippines" including the cost of providing a light lunch for todays side event.