Professional Background
Ms. Rowanie A. Nakan is a Partner in the Intellectual Property Department and heads the Patent Group of Cruz Marcelo & Tenefrancia, a leading Philippine full-service firm. She graduated from the University of the Philippines College of Law with a citation as one of the Outstanding Law Interns. She also holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Applied Physics from the National Institute of Physics, which is based in the same University. She is also an alumna of the Philippine Science High School-Southern Mindanao Campus. The combination of her technical and legal trainings inevitably led her to the field of patents.
She is among the top passers of the 2007 Patent Agent Qualifying Examination, which was then jointly administered by the Philippine Intellectual Property Office (“IPOPHL”) and the European Patent Office. She also attended the 2011 Southeast Asian Patent Drafting Course in Hong Kong organized by the Fédération Internationale des Conseils en Propriété Intellectuelle as well as the 2010 Japan Patent Office Training Course for Patent Experts.
Ms. Nakan’s patent prosecution practice spans more than ten (10) years and involves different technologies in various industries, including medical, electrical and software-related inventions. Her technical and legal backgrounds, patent trainings locally and abroad, coupled with actual experience in patent drafting, prosecution, freedom to operate searches, litigation, IP valuation, and commercialization, allow her to provide holistic and effective IP management strategies to her clients.
She has also spoken in IPOPHL and DOST-organized lectures on patent drafting, as well as in the 2015 Association Internationale pour la Protection de la Propriété Intellectuelle (“AIPPI”) World Congress in Rio de Janeiro, where she discussed regulatory and trademark issues involved in selecting a brand name in the Philippine pharmaceutical industry.
She was also a consultant of the DOST Technology Application and Promotion Institute on IP valuation and has given lectures on IP valuation in DOST-organized seminars.
She is a member of the Standing Committee on Patents of the AIPPI.
Ms. Nakan finds fulfilment in facilitating the public’s access to socially relevant technologies. She takes pride in securing protection over a home-grown and portable diagnostic kit for detecting different pathogens in the name of the University of the Philippines. She also considers it a milestone when the Philippine Supreme Court finally concluded a controversial patent litigation case involving a blockbuster pharmaceutical product, in favor of the firm’s client, which is among the biggest Filipino pharmaceutical company.
She was also named among top patent practitioners in the Philippines. According to IAM Patent 1000, “Rowanie Nakan is well known among her peers. She recently led a successful defence for United Laboratories and Therapharma in a patent infringement case against Warner Lambert and Pfizer at the Supreme Court.”
Citations:
Top Patent Practitioner in the Philippines, IAM Patent (2020)
Recommended Lawyer for Intellectual Property, The Legal 500 Asia Pacific (2019)
Up and Coming Lawyer for Intellectual Property, Chambers and Partners Asia Pacific (2019)