The Development Bank of Jamaica (DBJ) has awarded grants totalling J$16 million to four Jamaican inventors, under its Patent Grant Fund.
The value of the grant, which is another product of the DBJ’s Boosting Innovation Growth & Entrepreneurship Ecosystems (BIGEE), is J$4 million each. At the same time, the DBJ is announcing the opening of the application window for the second cycle of the fund.
The four awardees, the names of their businesses, target sector and jurisdiction in which the patents are to be registered are:
Inventor: Alison “Debbie” Turner
Name of Business: Turner Innovation Limited
Product: Sorrel De-seeder
Targeted Jurisdiction: Local, USA and world patent
Targeted sector: Agricultural, forestry and fishing
Inventor: Rayvon Stewart
Name of Business: Xermosol Supplies Limited
Product: Xermosol
Targeted Jurisdiction: WIPO Patent Corporation Treaty (PCT) – Contracting States
Targeted sector: Human health & social work activities
Inventor: Damani Thomas
Name of Business: Carbon Neutral Initiative Limited
Product: DE30 Biofuel
Targeted Jurisdiction: Jamaica, USA and United Kingdom
Targeted Sector: Services
Inventor: Nkrumah Fong
Name of Business: Consolidated Environmental Research Laboratory
Product: Pre-Filter Exhaust Cap
Targeted Jurisdiction: International – PCT, European Union, Great Britain, USA, China
Target Sector: Manufacturing
Patent Grant Fund pilot
In October 2022, after extensive discussions with several of Jamaica’s key stakeholders, DBJ introduced the Patent Grant Fund as a pilot.
BIGEE programme manager Christopher Brown disclosed that “the response to the product was overwhelming, at the close of submission, 15 applications were received, 10 were evaluated and eventually we awarded grants to these four innovating and game-changing projects. We are very pleased to announce that the selection panel which comprised of all experts in their field arrived at these four Jamaican projects that are poised to be world-class products.”
For her part, Lu’Shana Cheddesingh, technical coordinator of direct business, BIGEE, who has direct responsibility for the Patent Grant Fund, explains, “for Cycle 2 of the fund we have amended the product eligibility requirements to encourage more applications. Jamaican inventors can now apply for the Patent Grant Fund via our website- www.thinkbigee.com the application period will be open until September 30, 2023.”
Continuing she adds, “the grants approved for the inventors may be used to finance patent application fees, engaging an approved patent attorney to conduct pre-filing search, assessment, drafting and filing, and preparation of other miscellaneous documents. The grant can be utilised for filing patent applications in Jamaica or any other jurisdiction.”
BIGEE, which has been established to ensure robust and sustainable entrepreneurial ecosystems for Jamaica, is a programme that is funded by the Government of Jamaica through a US$25 million loan from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and a grant of US$8.2 million from the European Union.
Source: https://our.today/four-jamaican-inventors-benefit-from-dbj-patent-grant-fund/
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