By: Daniela Noyola
Every November 9th is celebrated international inventor´s day, in honor of the Austrian actress, engineer and inventor, Hedy Lamarr, who was the creator of the spread spectrum, which consisted of a modulation technique used in telecommunications for the transmission of digital data and radio frequency, which was initially used to intercept communications at the time of World War II, it was also used as a method for the creation of GPS and years later was the precedent of WIFI.
Like Hedy Lamarr, there are a great number of inventors who thanks to the contribution of their discoveries, have achieved important advances that have allowed the evolution of society. These creations are not issues of the past, because although today there are different devices or instruments that are basic to life, every day new needs arise that need to be solved and addressed.
Likewise, it is important to protect these inventions through the procedures established by the Law, which were established so that the inventor enjoys the rights he acquired from the idea of his creation. For this reason, to guarantee the security and legality of these rights, the Intellectual Property Law is in force in our country with the purpose of regulate very important aspects of literary, artistic, or scientific property and industrial property.
The World Intellectual Property Organization, known as WIPO, every year makes a series of statistics to know the number of patents, designs and models that are registered worldwide. In the last 5 years, there has been an increase in the percentage of patents granted to their respective holders, which has been helpful since they have the proper legal protection.
However, in our country, WIPO reflected in its statistics that in the last two years there has been a 25% decrease in the filing of applications for patents, utility models, and industrial designs before the Intellectual Property Registry. This could be negative for the development of industry in our country, in the sense that part of the Salvadoran economy is found in the work that arises from the creations of Salvadorans. That is why we emphasize the importance of recognizing ideas and inventions through the corresponding legal processes, in order to grant the inventor, due protection and in the same way contribute to the evolution.
If you want to know in more detail the steps to follow to apply for the registration of a patent of invention in each of the countries of Central America, you can find them in the following links.
- TYPES OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS (TRADE SECRETS, PATENTS, AND TRADEMARKS) https://latinalliance.co/en/2022/11/07/types-of-intellectual-property-rights-trade-secrets-patents-and-trademarks/
- WHAT SHOULD WE KNOW ABOUT INVENTION PATENTS?
- BENEFITS OF THE PATENT COOPERATION TREATY (PCT)
- NATIONAL ASSEMBLY OF THE REPUBLIC OF NICARAGUA, APPROVES AMENDMENT TO LAW 354 LAW OF PATENTS OF INVENTION, UTILITY MODELS AND INDUSTRIAL DESIGNS