CAF Produce Concytec and Indecopi promote patent development in the Peruvian mining sector

The institution provided attendees from the agro-industrial sector with an Intensive Workshop on Accelerated Patent Development, which took place March 25-29 and was sponsored by the Ministry of Production (Produce), as well as the National Council of Science, Technology and Innovation (CONCYTEC) and the National Institute for the Defense of Competition and the Protection of Intellectual Property (Indecopi). The event produced a total of 39 technological concepts.

The workshop produced an assortment of potentially patentable technological concepts within the scope of the mining sector. Participants also assessed regional and international issues with the purpose of increasing the export and commercialization of technologies developed in Peru in the medium term. The workshop was facilitated by a group of experts with Incubba, the Patents and Technologies Incubator at Medellín’s EIA University.

CAF representative in Peru Manuel Malaret, stressed the importance of the country’s mining sector, as well as the need to promote entrepreneurial creativity, adding that CAF believes that technological innovation in strategic sectors will allow economic growth and sustainable development across the region. “Peru is a country with a very important, world-renowned mining sector due to the great geological potential of its territory,” Malaret said. “The large number of projects in development make it necessary to promote and conceptualize specialized technologies that allow a medium-term increase in high-technology exports to the main international markets.”

Meanwhile, Maggy Manrique Petrera, head of the Ministry of Production’s Innovation, Technology, Digitalization and Formalization Department, praised all the companies that participated in the workshop for their technological developments, which have the potential of contributing to the competitiveness of the sector. She also recognized the importance of protecting such corporations, adding that “in a world that moves from a factors-based economy to one more knowledge extensive, promoting innovative companies becomes key and protecting the intellectual property of such participants allows them to stand out from among competitors, maximizing the economic benefits stemming from their innovations and facilitating their positioning in the market.” 

Ana Gabriela Sobarzo, sub-director of CONCYTEC’s Innovation and Technological Transfer, emphasized the need to increase the number of inventions resulting from a research and development process, and which are aimed at creating new value-added products, processes and services that positively impact society. She also announced that, within the context of the cooperation agreement signed by CONCYEC, CAF, Indecopi and the Ministry of Production, the institution she represents is designing a contest aimed to find the best patentable concepts emerging from the CAF workshops to help them submit their proposals to PCT. The contest will cover the drafting expenses and submission fees and the evaluation will be performed by INDECOPI experts.

María Lucía Cornejo, head of the Indecopi Regional Office in Arequipa, stressed the importance of patents as strategic business instruments to protect inventions outside the country’s borders. "Given the importance of the mining sector in Peru, Indecopi accepts a very high number of domestic patent applications related to the development, productivity and competitiveness of such sector,” she said. "For that reason, one of our country’s pending tasks is to aim for the international protection of applications that may reach global heights, so that we may take advantage of as many commercial opportunities as possible".    

The workshop featured CAF’s Accelerated Patent Development Method, which teaches participants to conceptualize technological ideas, as well as to research the underlying principles of the discipline and fill out patent applications using international formats. As many as 22 workshops have been carried out in eight countries, generating more than a thousand potentially patentable technological concepts across the region.

In an effort to continue boosting the development and promotion of the country’s technological innovation, CAF will carry out an Intensive Workshop on Accelerated Patent Development in May, which will be aimed at the agro-industrial sector. The call will be open until April 30. For more information, click here.