Patents do not necessarily stimulate innovation and sometimes they may even inhibit the socioeconomic development, experts said Tuesday at a high-level intellectual property (IP) conference.

More patents do not imply more innovation, said Dr. Manuel Desantes, Vice President of the European Patent Office (EPO) at the 4th Heads of Intellectual Property Offices Conference held on Nov. 13-14 in Metro Manila, capital region of the Philippines.

"If one takes mobile and telephony communication systems, everyone wants systems to inter-operate but when there is too much patenting around the elements that need to be interoperable, patents will inhibit the progress of the internet and those other things that society wants to develop," said Desantes, quoting an EPO interview with Roger Burt, an IP counsel of IBM.

That is why restraint on patents is needed, the vice president said.

The patent system, which has evolved over centuries, is rooted in the concept of a monopoly for invention conferred by society in return for public dissemination of the information. However, it has changed radically over the past several years with the emerging global knowledge-based economy occurring at a time of unprecedented technological innovation, experts said.

As a consequence, the role of patents has changed from individual patents, used as the backbone of an industrialization process, to the growing use of patent portfolios as the defensive shield or offensive sword of a business strategy.

Only a patent system which actually supports innovation, competitiveness and development goes in the right direction, said Desantes.

"Now, more than ever, the IP system's immense impact on society is felt in communities around the world," said Adrian S. Cristobal, Jr., Director General of IP Philippines.

"Many issues like access to affordable medicines and knowledge or the level of protection of IP owners vis-a-vis the public interest are common concerns being debated in our countries and our regions," he said.

"The common objective is to restore that delicate balance in the IP system to ensure it promotes innovation, making it relevant to our people and spur socio-economic development," he said.