SCIENCE CITY OF MUNOZ, Nueva Ecija, April 24 (PNA) –The Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHIL) has cited the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) for filing the most number of patents and Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) applications.
The award, called the “Anak ni Juan,” is given to PhilRice by the Intellectual Property Office for submitting six patents and Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) applications under the office’s Patent Protection Incentive Package (PPIP), also coined as “Juan’s Thousand Inventions.”
More than 80 Innovation and Technology Support Office (ITSO) host institutions, including research institutions and state universities and colleges participated in filing patent applications under the PPIP in 2014.
Among entries recognized by IPOPHIL eligible for PCT application was the action research titled “Cogeneration of Biochar and Heat from Rice Hull: Its Application in the Poultry Industry.”
The research, through the lead of Dr. Ricardo F. Orge and John Eric O. Abon, developed the continuous rice hull (CtRH) carbonizer, a smokeless biomass machine that utilizes rice hull to generate heat and produce carbonized rice hull.
As an environment-friendly farming technology, Orge said that the machine utilizes the carbonizer-generated heat for brooding chicks in replacement with the conventional liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) heat while the biochar (carbonized rice hull) it generates is used for poultry-based organic fertilizer.
Results of the performance test trials showed that the CtRH carbonizer, which is equipped with a heat-recovery attachment, can substitute the conventional LPG heater to provide the needed heat for brooding chicks; saving five to six tanks of LPG for every heater replaced.
With the biochar, additional income can also be derived from the produced organic fertilizer mixed with chicken manure.
Other action researches entitled for PCT applications include barringtoniaasiatica as an organic liquid molluscicide and use of the same; hydrous-bioethanol-fuel feeding device for spark-ignition engine; and a cooking device with temperature control utilizing waste heat from biomass carbonization or from other external heat source.
A phytoremediation method using seagrass to remove lead in contaminated sediments (PhilRice-drafted in behalf of CLSU) and A phytoremediation method using mangroves to remove lead and copper in contaminated sediments (also PhilRice-drafted in behalf of CLSU) were also recognized by IPOPHIL.
Jerry Serapion, PhilRice’s Intellectual Property Management-ITSO manager said that the award confirms the creativity and innovativeness of the scientists and researchers in protecting their intellectual creations.
Serapion also said that for inventions to be considered new and original, references around the world were conducted before their filing dates as inventions.
ITSO is a program established by the IPOPHL in 2010 aimed to be a patent library that will provide patent and Intellectual Property (IP) related services to the community clientele within the service geography of the ITSO members. (PNA)