UNIVERSITY of Technology, Jamaica, through its Technology Innovation Centre (TIC), has partnered with the Jamaica Intellectual Property Office (JIPO), with the support of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), to develop a Technology and Innovation Support Centre (TISC) to assist Jamaican patent holders who are seeking to commercialise their products.

With this strategic partnership, the TIC, which was established in 2002 at the university’s Joan Duncan School of Entrepreneurship, Ethics and Leadership (JDSEEL), will take another step in advancing its mission of increasing economic activities in Jamaica and the Caribbean through promoting entrepreneurship by offering world-class knowledge and development, technological and business support services.

Through the TISC, patent holders, who have filed patents over the last three to five years at the JIPO, will be offered assistance with seeking funding from grant funding agencies through the TIC’s Small Business Development Centre. Additionally, the TISC will conduct patent feasibility for commercialisation sessions, facilitate training seminars for patent holders, and assist with public relations and communication to promote patent holders’ products.

The TISC will also facilitate access to technical information to strengthen innovation, inventions, intellectual property registration and commercialisation by individuals and organisations in the Jamaican economy.

Nigel Cooper, head, JDSEEL, noted that the university is gratified to be able to provide Jamaican patent holders with a channel to pursue support to commercialise their inventions, adding that “many Jamaican patent holders have not commercialised their patents though we have seen several with market potential, and so the TISC is moving to assist them.”

He noted that the TISC, and the partnership with the JIPO is another avenue through which UTech is aiming to boost economic development and promote entrepreneurial endeavours in the country.