Cruz Marcelo & Tenefrancia is pleased to announce the well-deserved promotions of the Intellectual Property Department’s Rowanie A. Nakan to Senior Partner and Anica Angela G. Gomez to Senior Associate effective 01 January 2024.

Rowanie A. Nakan

Ms. Nakan heads the Patent Group of Cruz Marcelo & Tenefrancia, which was named the Patent Law Firm of the Year by World Trademark Review Industry Awards 2023 and awarded gold-tier rank in IAM Patent 1000 under her leadership. Her expertise in the field of patents earned her recognition as among the select list of IAM Patent Global Leaders in 2024, Legal 500’s Next Generation Partner in Intellectual Property in 2022 and 2023, and IP Stars' Trademark and Patent Star in 2022 and 2023.

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 of the same University. She is likewise an alumna of the Philippine Science High School-Southern Mindanao Campus.

As a practitioner, she is among the top passers of the 2007 Patent Agent Qualifying Examination, which was then jointly administered by the Philippine Intellectual Property Office and the European Patent Office.

With her technical and legal backgrounds, reinforced by patent trainings locally and abroad, she is instrumental in building a robust patent practice that allows the firm’s Intellectual Property Department to provide in-house highly specialized and technical services such as patent drafting, patentability and freedom to operate searches, patent litigation, and IP valuation.

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.” Another IAM Patent 1000 testimonial states: “A physicist by trade, Rowanie Nakan heads the patent group and is active on both sides of the contentious/non-contentious divide. Most notably, she has undertaken extensive patent prosecution, drafting and valuation work for the Philippine Department of Science and Technology – Technology Application and Promotions Institute. Another of Nakan’s notable long-term charges is United Laboratories, one of the biggest generics manufacturers in the Asia-Pacific region. ‘Proactive and with extreme attention to detail, Rowanie is impressive in her work and always ready to respond, even beyond the regular working hours’”.

Anica Angela G. Gomez

Ms. Gomez focuses on prosecution, enforcement, litigation and commercialization of intellectual property owned by local and foreign companies and individuals. As part of her advisory work, she has actively assisted clients in the negotiation, preparation, drafting, review and implementation of various contracts and agreements, including the conduct of due diligence, assistance in licensing and franchising of intellectual property, as well as regulatory matters, including registration of products with the Food and Drug Administration. She also has experience in civil, criminal, labor and employment litigation, arbitration and appellate practice.

 As an IP practitioner, Ms. Gomez is gaining recognition for her pleading writing and trial skills.

Ms. Gomez earned her Juris Doctor degree from the Ateneo de Manila University School of Law in 2019, where she graduated Second Honors and top 10% of her batch, with a specialization in Dispute Resolution. As a law student, Ms. Gomez was an intern of the Ateneo Human Rights Center and served as a student-associate of the Ateneo Legal Services Center.

She earned her Bachelor of Arts degree Major in Management Economics from Ateneo de Manila University in 2015, where she was a Dean’s Lister. During her undergraduate years, she studied as an exchange student at a prestigious university in Seoul, Korea where she was chosen as representative to a national debate competition between top schools and she emerged as one of the finalists.