Intellectual Property Training Supports Innovation
As the region’s governments look to grow the
competitiveness of their productive sectors, there is an increasing
need to establish and promote public policies and programs that
encourage research, development and marketing of technology-based
goods and services. In support of these efforts, the OAS-SEDI
liaised with recognized institutions to carry out the 2nd Edition of
the Academy on Technology Transfer and Commercialization for the
Americas held December 2 to 12 in the city of La Paz Baja California
Sur, Mexico.
Historically, the Latin American and Caribbean
region performs poorly in comparative international indexes on
competitiveness, innovation, productivity, and economic and human
development. This regional shortcoming highlights challenges in
areas commonly used in these indexes, including the number of
granted patents and trademarks, transactions related to technology
transfers, and the percentage of knowledge and innovation in
products and services in international trade flows. In particular,
these challenges reflect problems with national innovation systems
and the subsequent low innovative capacity of firms, most of which
are Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs).
It is in this context, that 40 professionals
from the Offices of Technology Transfer (OTT) and other entities
responsible for implementing policies and programs aimed at
supporting high-impact or technological base MSMEs from 14 countries
in the region were trained in Mexico. The advanced two-week course
was taught by expert instructors with practical experience in the
development, management, transfer and commercialization of
technology, and was modeled on the Academy of Licensing and
Intellectual Property of the University of California, Davis, that
since 2011 has welcomed students from Latin America and the
Caribbean, thanks to support from the
OAS professional development scholarship program.
Following a hands-on methodology, participants
worked in teams that at the end of the course presented a technology
that, with expert assistance, went through the whole process of
technology transfer: from the conception of the idea to reaching the
market, following the steps for intellectual property protection in strategic markets, transfer and commercialization of technology, as well as business development and access to external markets
strategies. The program also included visits to two companies
considered success stories in the generation of value-added, as
partners of the technology transfer process led by Mexico’s
Northwest Center for Biological Research (CIBNOR).
Coordinators
on this second edition of the Academy were the Department of
Economic Development of the OAS-SEDI, the National Council of
Science and Technology of Mexico (CONACYT), the Center for
Biological Research of the Northwest (CIBNOR) and the University of
California, Davis-PIPRA. Financial support came through the
Government of Canada through the Department of Foreign Affairs,
Foreign Trade and Development (DFATD) and CONACYT, with additional
support from the Ministry of Economy of Mexico, the Mexican
Institute of Industrial Property (IMPI), the World Intellectual
Property Organization (WIPO), the REDOTT of Mexico and the OAS’ Innovanet.
During 2015, the OAS will continue to promote the
continuous interaction among participants and other innovation
agents in the region through the online platform of the
Innovanet
Network, and continued coordination with the technology transfer
offices in the Americas, in order to share experiences and programs
related to innovation, intellectual property, public-private
partnerships, technology transfer, licensing and incubation,
especially in schemes to support innovative and high impact MSMEs.
In addition, the OAS and the other organizers expect to deepen their
partnership and provide new editions of the Academy during the year.