Rewarding environmental innovations to support green patents

By Espinosa Bellido Abogados

The latest Inter-American Intellectual Property Association (ASIPI) event had an outstanding activity on its academic program, with the aim of promoting environmental patents throughout Latin America and the Caribbean.

Within the framework of the XVIII National Competition of Inventions and Industrial Designs that Peru’s IP Office (INDECOPI) carries out annually in the country, in 2019 ASIPI sponsored and coordinated a special recognition specifically aimed at inventions applicable to the care of the environment or the mitigation of climate change.

The “Green patent contest: ASIPI rewards innovation” was evaluated by a prestigious jury designated by ASIPI: Matías Alemán (WIPO), Sylvia Bazán (INDECOPI), Hugo Gómez (Court of Justice of the Andean Community), Cristian Bittel (Marval, O'Farrell & Mairal) and Roberto Ríos (Hoglund & Pamias PSC). The three finalist projects were invited to an award ceremony during the XXI Board of Directors meeting, which took place in a reality competition format in Lima, Peru, on October 26, 2019.

The winner was Alinti, a technology that produces electrical energy from the photosynthesis of plants and microorganisms in a flowerpot connected to small solar panels for greater energy efficiency. "This is a boost. I have to continue because there are thousands of families that need this invention. We work hard to develop this type of technology and it is harder when you don't have support like this. I feel strengthened and protected because I realize that I am not alone" , said Alinti’s creator, Hernán Asto, after receiving first prize.

The second position went to Nedith Alexandra Baron Hassinger, who developed a device called BHAS Aguas which operates with wind energy to generate drinking water and electricity. The podium was completed by a team of three students of the Faculty of Chemistry of the University of Lambayeque, which developed a mobile device for the removal of arsenic from groundwater.
Green patents are patents on products or designs that provide environmental benefit, as far-reaching innovation is needed to address climate change and other environmental challenges, and to accelerate the transition to green growth. "These three stories help to land intellectual property on people. It must be our focal point”, said Ivo Gagliuffi, president of INDECOPI.