Technology and Innovation Support Center (TISC)

Bridging innovators from mind to market

Technology and Innovation Support Center (TISC)

Bridging innovators from mind to market

What are TISCs?

Established by WIPO in 2009, TISCs are Technology and Innovation Support Centers present in more than 90 countries, supporting innovators around the world to help unlock their innovative potential, to create, protect, and manage their intellectual property (IP) rights. Hosted in private and public institutions such as patent offices, universities, research centers, science and technology parks, and chambers of commerce, TISCs are driving innovation from within knowledge centers and technology hubs.

Across the various stages of the innovation process—from research to service design and product development, to IP creation, protection, valorization, and commercialization—TISCs offer a wide range of services that benefit individual inventors and other innovation actors including startups, university spin-offs, and small and medium enterprises (SMEs).
These services may include:
  • Access to online patent and non-patent resources (scientific and technical).
  • Access to other IP-related publications.
  • Assistance in searching and retrieving technology information.
  • On-demand Specialty Searches and Reports (e.g., Novelty / Patentability Search, State-of-the-Art Search, Freedom to Operate (FTO) Search, Validity / Invalidity, Infringement).
  • Training on various topics such as: IP fundamentals, database search, patent drafting.
  • Assistance with Patent filing and prosecution.
  • Monitoring Technology Trends and generating Patent Landscape Report (PLR).
  • Providing basic information and training on IP laws, IP Policies, Technology Transfer, commercialization strategies, and IP management.
Since January 2014, the TISC Program has been fully mainstreamed within the regular activities of WIPO. The IP for Innovators Department manages the Global TISC network program, providing technical assistance, conducting capacity-building training activities, and producing bespoke publications, toolkits, and guides for the development of the IP ecosystem, particularly in developing and least developed countries where TISCs operate.
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Technology and Innovation Support Centers

The WIPO Technology and Innovation Support Center (TISC) program provides innovators in developing countries with access to locally based, high quality technology information and related services, helping them to exploit their innovative potential and to create, protect, and manage their intellectual property (IP) rights.
Services offered by TISCs may include:
  • access to online patent and non-patent (scientific and technical) resources and IP-related publications;
  • assistance in searching and retrieving technology information;
  • training in database search;
  • on-demand searches (novelty, state-of-the-art and infringement);
  • monitoring technology and competitors;
  • basic information on industrial property laws, management and strategy, and technology commercialization and marketing.
Director General Daren Tang
All over the world, countries are increasing their investments in research and development. However, the journey from research to product is challenging, and getting economic outcomes from research investments requires technical knowledge, deep expertise and close connections between researchers, businesses and government. TISCs help ease this journey from research to product in two ways. They provide powerful tools that provide knowledge and build expertise, and they have local knowledge in the different stakeholders in the innovation ecosystem that allows them to be better connected with one another and in that connection the magic happens.
Welcome address, Global TISC Conference, November 29, 2021

TISCs database

Services offered by Technology and Innovation Support Centers (TISCs) vary across levels of development and maturity, and may include any of the following or combinations thereof:

TISC Service Level 1

  • IP advocacy and outreach
  • Information on IP fundamentals
  • Access to online patent and non-patent resources (scientific and technical) and other IP-related publications
  • Assistance in searching and retrieving technology information

TISC Service Level 2

  • Training in database search
  • On-demand Specialty Searches (novelty/patentability, state-of-the-art, freedom to operate, validity/invalidity)
  • Basic information on IP laws, IP Policies, Technology Transfer and commercialization strategies, IP management

TISC Service Level 3

  • Patent application drafting
  • Patent filing and prosecution
  • Patent Landscape Reports (PLRs)
  • Monitoring Technology Trends
  • Competitor watch
  • IP Management
  • Technology Licensing
  • University-Industry Collaboration

TISC by the numbers (as of end of 2023)

4

4 regional networks

93

1,494

2,252,790

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TISC impact stories

Find out how TISCs are making an impact in society and the lives of innovators and technology users around the globe.
Disclaimer: TISC Impact Stories are intended for public awareness on the impact of TISC operations and the services they provide to innovators. The publication of these stories is not intended to reflect the views of the Member States or the WIPO Secretariat. The mention of specific companies or products of manufacturers does not imply that they are endorsed or recommended by WIPO in preference to others of a similar nature that are not mentioned.

News

WIPO’s COVID-19 response package

The capacities of Technology and Innovation Support Centers (TISCs) and other technology transfer structures, in particular in developing countries, to identify and support the roll-out of innovations and inventions for combatting pandemic diseases will be strengthened:
  • Training materials on patent and technology search and licensing in the areas of prophylactics, therapeutics, bio-analytics, and bioinformatics will be developed.
  • Reference sources on specialized tools in the areas of prophylactics, therapeutics, bio-analytics, and bioinformatics will be expanded and integrated into the WIPO INSPIRE
  • Expanding free or low-cost access to specialized tools and content in the areas of prophylactics, therapeutics, bio-analytics, and bioinformatics through the Access to Research for Development and Innovation (ARDI) and Access to Specialized Patent information (ASPI) programs will be explored.

New resources for evidence-based decision making will be provided through patent landscape reports in the fields of vaccines, therapeutics, bio-analytics and bioinformatics. Current data on inventions in these fields will be made accessible through dedicated PATENTSCOPE portals.

Guidance on effective means for promoting innovation to combat pandemic diseases will be provided in the form of specialized policies and policy elements made available through WIPO’s dedicated IP Policies for Universities database.

Platforms and tools

We provide digital platforms and tools to reinforce technology and innovation support services and facilitate networking among TISCs.
A global knowledge center for innovation designed to help innovators and entrepreneurs make informed decisions throughout the innovation cycle by providing them with access to a unique blend of information and knowledge on patent search, patent analytics, technology transfer, and institutional IP policies.
Your gateway to online patent registers and gazettes and to legal-status-related information from over 200 jurisdictions and patent information collections.
Learn how to gather and structure data to make informed decisions during the New Product Development process using inventions in the public domain.
A social platform for the TISC community and IP users to interact with each other and share knowledge and ideas.

Learning resources

We develop knowledge and skills underpinning the delivery of technology and innovation support services.
Webinars include expert presentations covering topics related to the technology and innovation support services.

Guides

Guides comprise learning and reference materials to reinforce development of skills and knowledge.
The e-tutorial is a self-paced interactive certificate course with tutorials, scenarios, and practical exercises.

Publications

The Annual Report highlights key trends and milestones of the TISC program since its launch in 2009, with a focus on that year's achievements and developments.
PLRs provide a snapshot on the patent situation of a specific technology, either within a given country or region, or globally.
The WIPO "Technology Trends" series tracks the development of technologies through the analysis of data on innovation activities

About IP

Technology search

TISC Programs and Platforms

Cooperation