INTEC promotes academic innovation and patent registration through prior art searches
Professors from the Engineering Department highlight how this free service, offered through the institutional CATI and endorsed by ONAPI through INTEC's Directorate of Entrepreneurship and Innovation, enhances the rigor of projects, avoids duplication of ideas, and responds to market needs.
SANTO DOMINGO – With the aim of guaranteeing the originality, viability and relevance of academic research, the Instituto Tecnológico de Santo Domingo (INTEC) highlighted the importance of integrating prior art searches as a fundamental resource for undergraduate projects. This service, offered free of charge through the university's Center for Technology and Innovation Support (CATI), is backed by the National Office of Industrial Property (ONAPI).
Reviewing the state of the art allows students and teachers to access global databases of patents and publications, offering a clear view of existing technological advances to avoid duplication of effort and focus research on true innovations.
Professors from the Engineering Department at INTEC agree that the implementation of this tool radically transforms the rigor with which academic proposals are developed and evaluated.
Market-driven, evidence-based innovation
For José Adón, a full professor of Industrial Design, this practice strengthens the quality of the work by identifying unmet needs. “Through the analysis of patents and existing solutions, functional improvements or new design possibilities that add value can be identified. The state of the art provides a solid foundation, both academically and practically, as it allows decisions to be justified with verifiable information and provides a better understanding of technical and commercial feasibility,” he explained.
In that sense, Deyslen Mariano, dean of the Engineering area, emphasized that this resource helps the student "stop guessing and start working with what is really happening in the world today."
Mariano emphasized that, from a teaching perspective, the tool facilitates objective evaluation: “It allows us to distinguish between a project that is simply 'new to the student' and one that is genuinely 'new to the professional field.' By requiring this analysis, we ensure that the graduate's contribution is relevant and responds to the current needs of the market and industry, thus enhancing the institution's prestige.”
From the classroom to the industrial property registry
The integration of patent databases has proven to be a catalyst for technology transfer and the creation of intellectual property. Dr. Miguel Aybar Mejía, a full professor in the Engineering Department, noted that this global perspective allows students to analyze foreign technologies and evaluate how they can be adapted or improved to meet the specific needs of the Dominican Republic.
“Requiring students to prove the novelty and real contribution of their ideas challenges them to raise the bar for intellectual property, such as utility models or patents,” Aybar said.
Thanks to the support of the Directorate of Entrepreneurship and Innovation, CATI-INTEC, and ONAPI, students have gained the necessary autonomy to conduct these research projects, achieving tangible results. In recent years, the Electrical Engineering program has successfully submitted several utility models focused on energy efficiency to ONAPI, including solutions for LiFePO4 batteries, power factor correction in motors, smart residential charge meters, and solar tiles.
National leadership in intangible assets
Promoting these practices has solidified INTEC's position as the university with the largest number of registered intangible assets in the Dominican Republic. Currently, the institution leads the national ecosystem with a portfolio that includes 52 trademarks, 11 utility models, 4 patents, 4 signs, 3 trade names, 1 industrial design, and 1 slogan.
Historically, the university set a milestone by being the first to obtain a utility model patent in 2016 and an industrial design patent in 2017. It also leads nanotechnology research with three invention patents and excels in the development of environmental technologies, as evidenced by the recent granting of a utility model for an autonomous sargassum-collecting vessel in 2025. The impact of these initiatives keeps the institution ranked first nationally according to global indicators of academic performance and technology transfer.
About CATI - INTEC
El Instituto Tecnológico de Santo Domingo It was the first university in the country to sign a CATI Peripheral agreement in 2012, democratizing access to technological information. CATI has been fundamental in establishing an institutional culture where intellectual property transcends the legal sphere and becomes a strategic axis of development.
In addition to its training and registration advice, the center has promoted high-impact agreements, such as the agreement with the Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) and the Korea Invention Promotion Association (KIPA), as well as key collaborations with the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and SMEs (MICM) and the National Association of Companies and Industries of Herrera (ANEIH).
About INTEC
El Instituto Tecnológico de Santo Domingo (INTEC) is a Dominican institution of higher education of a private, non-profit nature, which since its founding in 1972 has stood out for its academic excellence and its contribution to the social transformation of the country through science and technology.