By El Mercurio

These three institutions requested 67% of all the patents for 2014.  

Synthetic minerals that could decontaminate, for example, the waters of lake Vichuquén. Cheap biodegradable bags or low-cost dental implants for elderly people. This is part of the “catalogue of inventions” that Universidad de Concepción (UdeC) materialized last year, the educational institution that led the patent requests for 2014 processed by the Instituto Nacional de Propiedad Industrial (Inapi). 

 

During this period that university registered 27 “inventions” and innovation or technological initiatives in the most varied disciplines. “This achievement reflects very well the work of our academics”, commented Carlos Gonzalez, vice dean of investigation at UdeC, stating that this first place is an acknowledgement that consolidates the role of this university located in Region VIII. In fact, the institution has an Unidad de Propiedad Intelectual as well as the Incuba UdeC program, which has the purpose of supporting local investigators.

 

The second institution with the most inventions during 2014 was Universidad de Santiago (Usach), which presented 23 requests during the previous year. The requests were made in connection to areas and faculties as varied as engineering, chemistry, biology and even aquaculture.

 

Luis Magne, director of the Technological Transference Area at this institution, the only state entity within the three that register the most number of patents, explains that “U. de Santiago maintains its essence as a technological university and due to the same it emphasizes investigation, with the purpose of contributing to the wellbeing of society”.

Finally, in the third place we find Universidad Católica (UC), which registered 21 patents during 2014. “We have developed a meticulous work and are convinced that this is the way in which a university can cooperate with the country’s growth,” commented Sol Serrano, vice dean of investigation at UC, who also stated that, as an internal goal, they plan to triple the amount of their patent requests by the year 2020.
 

Maximiliano Santa Cruz, Inapi’s national director, comments that “currently, universities are the ones that conduct most of the investigation in Chile and, therefore, they have an enormous role. I believe that they have done very well during the last few years “.