Panama comes up with more ideas to apply for technological patents

Panama added 84 technological concepts, with which the country is getting ready to start the patent application process required by international agencies to achieve their registry. This is a result of the completion of the second version of the training based on the CAF Method for the Accelerated Development of Patents, a regional initiative led by CAF, Development Bank of Latin America, and executed in collaboration with the National Secretariat for Science, Technology, and Innovation (Senacyt, for its acronym in Spanish).

During 5 days, from Monday, January 30th to February 3rd, 2017, the event included the participation of 90 people from 16 companies of the private sector and state institutions. They were provided with 66 hours of instruction, which were helpful to create, design, structure, and present their innovative ideas with the objective of registering them through the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT). 

The coordinator of the Technological Patents Regional Initiative for Development, Álvaro Atilano, informed that " we have had a useful week. We became more aware that we can generate highly innovative ideas. Participants have come up with a series of technological concepts that have good possibilities of being patented. These results, added to those of last year, when we obtained 136 technological concepts, help position Panama with respect to the registration of technological patent ".

Atilano recognized that the Central American country has the advantage of having a small population, so that proportionately, it reaches and equals the numbers of first world countries that lead the registry of technological patents. He stated, "Panama is very clear about where it wants to go with the subject of registration of technological patents, and is taking advantage of being a signatory of the PCT. For this reason, CAF decided that this would be one of the first countries to receive technical cooperation". 

After the conclusion of the First Marathon, Panama ranked as the fourth Ibero American country with the greatest number of international applications to patent ideas, only behind Spain, Brazil, and Mexico. This training also placed the Universidad Tecnológica de Panamá (UTP) (Technological University of Panama) in the first position of Latin American Higher Education institutions generating patent applications. 

Víctor Sánchez, Director of Entrepreneurial Innovation at Senacyt, expressed his gratitude to CAF and the participants, and stated, " We have to start breaking the mental schemes regarding the limits we can reach. This is the first objective of this type of exercise. This also implies a different business, so now we will have to learn how to sell this, market it, and a strategy to monetize what we are inventing". 

The CAF Method for the Accelerated Development of Patents consists of a disruptive instruction that seeks not only to break the currently existing paradigms in the region regarding innovation, but also how to conceptualize patentable technologies, including drafting quality patents. Previously, this method has been implemented in  Medellin, Monterrey, and Panama.