ITSO Strengthens Innovation Literacy Through IP Awareness Seminar for Engineering Students

The Intellectual Property and Technology Support Office of Southern Leyte State University successfully conducted the seminar “IP Awareness and Research Innovation: Guiding Students from Ideas to Protection” on February 18-19, 2026, at the RIES 2nd Floor Training Hall. The activity aimed to strengthen students’ understanding of intellectual property (IP) and its significance in research, innovation, and technological development.

The seminar gathered students from the Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, and Civil Engineering programs, providing them with valuable insights on protecting their ideas and transforming research outputs into potential innovations.

The program began with registration, followed by the National Anthem and Opening Prayer presented through multimedia. The event officially opened with a welcome message delivered by Engineer Khorina O. Aguilar, who highlighted the importance of intellectual property awareness in encouraging students to develop innovative ideas while ensuring that their works are properly protected.

An inspirational message was delivered by Dr. Francis Ann R. Sy, Vice President for Research, Innovation and Extension Services. In her address, she encouraged students to actively pursue research and innovation while emphasizing the importance of intellectual property protection in advancing technological progress and responsible research practices.

The seminar featured a series of informative discussions from invited resource speakers. Cyrene A. Napoles presented Topic 1: “The IP System in Action: Protecting Your Ideas and Respecting Others’ Rights,” where she introduced the fundamentals of intellectual property and discussed how students can safeguard their research outputs and technological innovations.

Rio Katrina C. Avila facilitated the succeeding sessions. She discussed Topic 2: “From Research Idea to Protectable Innovation,” guiding students on how research concepts can be developed into innovations with intellectual property value. She also delivered Topic 3: “Novelty Search and Navigating IP Databases,” where participants learned how to conduct novelty searches and explore intellectual property databases to verify originality and analyze existing technologies.

Through this initiative, the ITSO reaffirmed its commitment to promoting intellectual property awareness and innovation literacy among engineering students. By equipping participants with essential knowledge on IP protection, innovation development, and patent search strategies, the seminar supports SLSU’s mission of developing competent, research-oriented, and innovation-driven graduates.