Patents project to be launched

PANAMA. The Ministry of Commerce and Industry is promoting a project to strengthen competitiveness and productivity in Panama.

This project will use a patents database from the Industrial Property agency (DIGERPI) and international patent offices and will offer users a reference base of patents, models and industrial designs published in Panama and abroad.

This is intended to be a useful tool to preview and plan process of technological design, evaluate new products and learn about current economical and scientific research.

Between 2004 and 2008 there were a total of 1,271 patent concessions registered in Panama; 1,103 were invention patents, 105 were utility models, 55 industrial models an 8 industrial drawings.

A patent has a cost of $1,070.90 and its valid for 20 years. It is an official document that credits the owner with exclusives rights. There are already 221 patent registered at DIGERPI in 2009.

A patent is a set of exclusive rights granted by a state to an inventor or his assignee for a limited period of time in exchange for a disclosure of an invention.