On December 2, the roundtable “The challenges and opportunities that the pandemic has represented for the functioning of the local office and the services available”.

The pandemic has been a challenge for everyone, both government offices and users of the system. This was no exception for the Dominican Republic and its National Industrial Property Office (ONAPI). It had to close its operations on March 17, 2020 and could only partially reopen on April 28, 2020. Even as of December 2020, ONAPI was not operating at full capacity. Notwithstanding the above, it did not stop offering services to users in the country and abroad, through its electronic platform E-SERPI, which was used to carry out various services, in the area of distinctive signs.

Organized by ASIPI, with the co-sponsorship of the intellectual property commission of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) and the Dominican Association of Intellectual Property (ADOPI), this round table was attended by the Director of ONAPI, Dr. Salvador Ramos, as well as the Directors of its Department of Distinctive Signs, Michelle Guzmán and the Department of Inventions, Luisa Castillo, who related the institutional experience during these months, the challenges presented and how they have been overcome. Likewise, Mónika Fiallo, president of the Dominican Association of Intellectual Property (ADOPI), presented the experience of users during this period.

This activity has served to visualize the efforts made by ONAPI during the pandemic and to identify the opportunities that still lie ahead. At the end of the roundtable, the participating authorities announced the improvements that would be introduced to the electronic system in mid-December, and others in early 2021. We will continue to monitor this effort by ONAPI, and will resume this dialogue with the authorities in the first quarter of 2021.