Editha R. Hechanova leads the intellectual law practice of the HECHANOVA Group comprising of of Hechanova & Co., Inc. an intellectual property consulting firm handling trademark and patent prosecution, copyright and domain name registrations, product registration, management, valuation, searches, and other non-contentious aspect of intellectual property, where she is President/CEO. The contentious IP practice is handled by the other member firm, Hechanova Bugay Vilchez & Andaya-Racadio which specializes in enforcement, litigation, alternative dispute resolution, licensing corporate, immigration law and taxation. Editha graduated from the University of the East with a business degree, major in Accounting, magna cum laude. She is a Certified Public Accountant. She obtained her law degree from the Ateneo de Manila University, and a Certificate in Strategic Business Economics from the University of Asia and the Pacific.
She is a Certified Patent Valuation Analyst (CPVA) by the Business Development Academy based in New Jersey, USA. She passed the Patent Agent Qualifying Examination (PAQE) in 2008 conducted by the IPOPHL, and is the immediate past president of the Association of PAQE Professionals, Inc. consisting of PAQE passers. She is an alumna of the South East Asia Patent Drafting Course (SEAD) conducted by the Federation des Conseils en Propriete Intellectuelle (FICPI), an international organization of patent and IP practitioners. She is currently the Vice-President of the IP Collegium, an organization of IP experts mainly in the ASEAN region, India and Brazil, sponsored by the Japan Institute for Promoting Invention and Innovation (JIPII). She is the Asia Pacific sub-committee chairperson of the Trademark Office Practice Committee (TOPC) of the International Trademark Association (INTA) for 2022-2023.
Editha Hechanova has been cited by AsiaLaw as leading lawyer in IP in the Philippines from 2002-2018 and as Distinguished Practitioner for 2021 and 2022, ASIA IP Expert from 2013-2022, IP Star from 2014- 2022, Who’s Who Legal Trademarks from 2012-2022, Edition of World Trademark Review 1000 as the World’s Leading Trademark Professional for Enforcement and Litigation, and Prosecution and Strategy, and Asia Business Law Journal Philippines Top 100 Lawyers from 2019-2022. She was also named as Copyright Law Expert of the Year and Intellectual Property Law Representative in the Philippines by the Global Law Experts in 2022; and Trademark Prosecution Services Expert of the Year in the Philippines during the 2022 Lawyer Network Annual Awards.
The Hechanova Group has been cited as winner of Philippines Law Firm Award for 2022/2023 for Intellectual Property Enforcement from the Asia Business Law Journal. For 2021/2022 the Hechanova Group won two Philippines Law Firm Awards for: Intellectual Property Enforcement and Intellectual Property Protection from the same publication. On March, 2022, HECHANOVA & CO., INC. was honored by the IPOPHL with a Special Citation as the Top Agent for Patent (2017-2021) and Top Industrial Design Agent (2017-2021) during THE 25th Anniversary of the IP Code.
The Hechanova Group is ranked Tier 1 for the Philippines jurisdiction in the Copyright survey of Asia IP for 2023; the Philippines Patent Firm of the Year for the years 2020 & 2021, Asia IP Awards. In 2019, it was awarded the Philippines Copyright Firm of the Year, and in 2017, the Philippines Trademark Firm of the Year.
