The Director of the National Industrial Property Office (ONAPI) Enrique Ramirez announced in Hoy newspaper that they would be awarding the first patent for a Dominican invention in December. The first-ever patented Dominican invention is a vapor shower with special properties, which was built by Donato Padilla with the help of the Dominican Republic Center for Exportation and Investment (CEI-RD) and the Technological Institute of Santo Domingo (INTEC). Ramirez said that ONAPI would seek to assist Dominican inventors as the country’s entry into DR-CAFTA approaches, and that this year ONAPI hopes to launch a project to support national inventors. The event will show inventors how to apply for a patent, as well as how to apply for an industrial design and utility model.