The Department of Intellectual Property in collaboration with the Technology and Innovation Support Division, World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) conducted a half-day virtual training on searching Global Patent Databases on April 11, 2022 for the participants and staff of three Technology and Innovation Support Centers (TISCs) in the country. 

Scientific and technical information play crucial role in carrying out research and development, as well as in the innovation process.  The access to and sharing of scientific and technical information within research structure is one of the keys to business success. The TISCs aim to stimulate innovation by enabling access to technological information by putting in place the basic ICT infrastructure and strengthening the capacity of the staff to effectively access and assess the information found in the global technology databases. 

One aspect directly relevant in general is that, before embarking on any research and development project, it is essential to determine what has already been done around the world in that particular field, in order to avoid wasting time and money on something that is already known. One can avoid duplication of efforts such as re-inventing existing inventions, re-solving problems that have already been solved and re-developing products that already are in the market. The overall objective of TISCs in the broader context is to facilitate innovation for academia, R&D institutions and entrepreneurs.

The virtual training touched upon the following topics:

1. Update on the TISC Project in Bhutan
2. Patent Filing Procedures in Bhutan
3. Patent Search Tools and Techniques
4. Using Tools and Techniques for Searching in Patent Databases and 
5. Implementation of TISC Project in Philippines: Success Stories and Lessons Learnt

40 participants from three national TISCs namely, the College of Science and Technology, Jigme Namgyel Engineering College and Thimphu Tech Park attended the virtual training which is being conducted to further enhance their capacities and boost confidence in operating the centers. 

Department of Intellectual Property
Ministry of Economic Affairs