How the IPTI of the Dominican Republic is Supporting Local Innovators, Creators and Entrepreneurs
July 26, 2024
The National Academy of Intellectual Property of the Dominican Republic is one of the WIPO Academy’s first Intellectual Property Training Institutions (IPTIs), having opened its doors to learners across the country in 2011. The National Academy of IP is housed in the National Industrial Property Office of the Dominican Republic (ONAPI). Since its establishment, the IPTI has reached over 37,000 intellectual property (IP) knowledge and skills-building seekers through numerous projects, programs and initiatives, many of which are ongoing to this day.
Beyond traditional classes
To empower women entrepreneurs in the local economy, the IPTIs of the Dominican Republic with the support of the WIPO Academy’s IPTIs Program, launched an IP Skills Development Program for Women Entrepreneurs in 2023 to equip them with the skills needed to integrate IP into their business models. One of the 46 participants in this program was Deyanira Solano, the founder for a chocolate business called “Chocosol”. Deyanira registered the trademark for “Chocosol” with ONAPI two years before launching her business in 2015 because she knew about the importance of protecting her IP for her business’ success through the entrepreneurship center of her university. She was invited to the IP Skills Development Program for Women Entrepreneurs by ONAPI because of the great economic potential of her business.
Through her business, Deyanira produces derivative cacao products from body and haircare products like cacao soap and moisturizing creams, to food and wines such as cacao nibs and cacao wine. Her family has been producing cacao for more than 30 years, but she decided to start a business producing derivative cacao products after realizing that other countries purchase raw cacao from the Dominican Republic to create their own derivative products and she felt that the Dominican Republic should also be a strong player in the cocoa industry beyond just cacao production. She first started out with two products and eventually grew to selling 14 different products to meet customer demand.
As an entrepreneur Deyanira loves to also support and mentor other up-and-coming women entrepreneurs in her community and she always highlights to them the importance of protecting their IP assets for business growth and success. Deyanira currently has five employees helping her with “Chocosol” by selling her products through her physical store, Instagram account and orders from businesses in Punta Cana. Deyanira hopes to open another branch of her store and a production center for “Chocosol” in Punta Cana.
Registering my trademark was the first thing I did when I decided to start my own business because IP is so important for business growth. As soon as people want to sell or produce chocolate in the Dominican Republic, and they decide to register a brand, often they try to register a brand with a similar trademark to mine so thankfully my trademark protection has saved me from legal issues with other potential competitors on the market. My advice is for business owners to register their trademarks before even asking for a loan to start their business, and especially before they start selling products on the market. It helps to guarantee their safety.
Deyanira Solano, Dominican Entrepreneur and Founder of “Chocosol”
Additionally, the IPTI in the Dominican Republic runs an annual Innovative Summer Camp which first kicked-off in 2016 to encourage high school students to pursue STEM careers and innovate to help fuel a solid economic future for themselves and the country. The summer camps are two weeks long and include experimental group work, field visits to industries and career mentorship. Over 450 high school students have participated in the camps to date, and many have gone on to pursue STEM careers afterwards. The 2024 edition of the Innovative Summer Camp is supported by the IPTIs Program of the WIPO Academy, which provided expert speakers and started a project on the development of a manual and resources for other IPTIs to refer to when replicating this initiative.
The Innovation Summer Camp allowed me to be in direct contact with the sciences, carry out experiments and projects, listen to the experiences of outstanding professionals in STEM careers, and visit different national universities. It was the impetus I needed to choose chemical engineering as my career. The knowledge I gained from camp about intellectual property (IP) has remained with me, because for my thesis and university research I always consulted patents and industrial design databases. Currently I work for a pharmaceutical company where it is very useful to know about IP.
Génesis Peguero, Innovation Summer Camp Participant (2016 cohort) and Dominican Chemical Engineer
IP competitions for the win!
With the support of WIPO and the Korean IP Office, the IPTI launched a series of annual appropriate technology competitions from 2015 to 2022 to encourage Dominicans to innovate and develop technologies that offer solutions to everyday problems which can then be solved in an easily manufacturable manner. Winners go on to be supported in filing for IP protection so that they can commercialize their innovations.
Regus Feliz Álvarez was one of the winners of the Appropriate Technology Competition, having competed in the fourth edition in 2019. In 1992, he invented an air generator which converts air into energy, but he left his innovation in storage for decades until he was able to afford patenting it. Luckily, as the next-door neighbor of ONAPI Headquarters in Santo Domingo, he learned about the Appropriate Technology Competition and decided to enter his invention for a chance to get support with IP filing. Through the competition, and other course offerings provided by the National Academy of IP of the Dominican Republic, such as patent drafting workshops, Regus learned how to apply for a patent and decided it was time to take his other innovations out of storage as well. The patent for his air generator was granted by ONAPI in 2020 and his second patent for a bottle nozzle protector, which he invented in 1995 only to leave in storage, was granted in 2023. Regus previously worked as a salesman at a local brewery but was always passionate about mechanics and ways of optimizing energy consumption, so with his newly found IP skills and knowledge, he is ready to focus his efforts on commercializing his treasure of stored inventions for the greater good.
My knowledge of IP was built by ONAPI and I believe that government assistance to inventors is a gamechanger. It was for me! IP is important to guarantee the protection of inventions and the efforts put into inventing them. The opportunities offered by the National Academy of IP of the Dominican Republic helped opened my horizons to the possibilities of generating livelihoods from my innovations.
Regus Feliz Álvarez, Inventor from the Dominican Republic
Other initiatives launched by the IPTI in the Dominican Republic include the Industrial Designs Competition for local entrepreneurs which started in 2023 to encourage product designers and those working with handicrafts to leverage the commercial value of their creative efforts.
Sandy Candelario won the first edition of the Industrial Design Competition in 2023, for his uniquely designed lamp which was inspired by humpback whales. Through the competition he benefitted from mentorship on industrial the design registration process, and proceeded to protect the industrial design of the lamp as he hopes to commercialize it for use by hotels on the coastal areas of Samaná. As a renowned painter and woodcraftsman in his community with 25 years of experience, a friend of his at the Ministry of Culture initially encouraged him to enroll for the IPTI course offerings thinking it would be useful for his business. He enrolled in several IPTI workshops before entering the competition, and overtime he learned how to use his IP to build sustainable livelihood through commercialization. Sandy placed second in the Industrial Design Competition and won tools he needed for his workshop.
Protect your creative designs so you don’t lose out on all your efforts. Through industrial design protection you can reap the benefits of your creativity.
Sandy Candelario, Handicraftsman from the Dominican Republic
Next up
The National Academy of IP of the Dominican Republic plans to expand its support for the youth across the country by launching an “IP Adventure” project. The project will launch in 2025 to introduce young school children to the world of innovation and IP.