Eugene A. Tan and Ignacio S. Sapalo, 1967 classmates at the Ateneo College of Law, form the law offices of “Tan & Sapalo” at Filcapital Building (now Allied Banking Corporation), Ayala Avenue, Makati City, and begin specializing in intellectual property and admiralty/maritime tort practice.

Jaime G. Manzano and Teresita C. Velez, seasoned practitioners in intellectual property, join Tan and Sapalo thereby adopting the firm name, “Tan Sapalo Manzano & Velez”.

1980 -

Sapalo accepts his appointment as Director of the then Bureau of Patents, Trademarks, and Technology Transfer (“BPTTT”, now the Intellectual Property Office); the firm becomes, “Tan Manzano & Velez”.

The firm establishes the “Eugene A. Tan Professorial Chair in Constitutional Law and the Rule of Law” at the Ateneo School of Law.

Tan passes away; Manzano becomes the Managing Partner.

The firm is ranked by the prestigious Managing Intellectual Property publication as among the top 3 leading law firms engaging in trademark practice in the Philippines.

 Manzano passes away and a new millennium is about to begin.

Sapalo, who previously resigned as BPTTT Director, rejoins Velez and former associate attorney Augusto R. Bundang to form the “Sapalo & Velez Law Offices” and become its Managing Partner.

A licensed-engineer and former BPTTT Patent Examiner and practicing attorney, Neptali L. Bulilan, is admitted as new partner while more associate attorneys and paralegals are added to the firm’s roster to beef up its practice and effectively service its clients; the firm goes online and launches its website; its operation is fully automated and computerized; it celebrates a milestone: its silver (25th) anniversary, and holds its first ever “Sapalo & Velez Golf Tournament” in Alabang Golf and Country Club.

The firm establishes its first provincial branch office in Iloilo City to extend its assistance to clients in the Visayas.

The firm sets up its second branch office in Cebu City and enters into a partnership with the Manila, Cebu, and Iligan branches of the Apostleship of the Sea (an office of the Episcopal Commission of the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People (ECMI) of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines) for the promotion and protection of the welfare of the Filipino seafarers and their families; it assists the IPO in organizing the “Seminar on the Protection of Computer Software and Business Methods in the Philippines”.

The firm inaugurates its third branch office in Cagayan de Oro City and places itself in the map of Mindanao; Bundang and Bulilan become name partners thus, changing the firm’s name to “Sapalo Velez Bundang & Bulilan Law Offices”; the firm’s partners join forces with retired police generals to form IPROBE, Inc. and address increasing concerns on piracy and counterfeiting.