2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY-THREE - Public Planning and Development (§§ 1 — 11273) › PART II - Economic Development (§§ 231-241 — 695i) › Chapter 45 - Science, Technology and Research Trust (§§ 695 — 695i) › § 695 - Definitions

Every term used in this chapter to refer to a person or office shall refer to both genres, and the following terms, whenever used in this chapter, shall have the meaning stated hereinafter, except when otherwise provided in the context:
(a) Eligible activities.— Shall mean:
(1) Science and technology research or development activities in the following areas:
(A) Information and communications technology.
(B) Creation of data, video and telephone convergence protocol.
(C) Infrastructure of information science, data, video and multimedia transmissions.
(D) Development of programs that promote the use of new methods to access health systems, to wit: telemedicine and distance education.
(E) Electronic commerce and programming developed in digital language code and incorporated in a direct use computer-(application service software).
(F) Research processes and technology and development of medication including, but not limited to, molecular biology, genomic science, proteomic science, genotype sequence analysis and technology, combinational chemistry, robotic software, bio-information science, biochemistry, molecular oncology, genomic pharmacology, biological markers, molecular toxicology, tissue engineering, medicinal chemistry, micro-fluidics and models of diseases.
(G) Clinical research and development in the fields mentioned in paragraph (F) of this clause and integration of clinical research and bio-analysis platforms.
(H) Clinical research and development, integration of experimental and computational biology, pharmacology, molecular toxicology, animal models.
(I) Delivery of medication and related fields.
(J) Investigation and development of bio-manufacturing processes, bio-catalysis, development of chemical processes; manufacture and bioprocesses of protein and chemical syntheses manufacture.
(K) Molecular phenotype technology, discovery of medication and nanotechnology development.
(2) Education, training and professional development in the fields of research or development in science and technology.
(3) Rendering of services and technology including, advisory, consultative, and studies, analysis, collection, management and administration of intellectual property, implementation and management of incubators and financing of innovations and inventions.
(4) Attracting scientific human resources to Puerto Rico, under the terms defined by the Council of Trustees.
(5) Construction and development of scientific parks or development of the adequate social infrastructure for research or development of science and technology activities.
(6) Other activities that the Council of Trustees designates as eligible activities, provided that it determines that they shall result in the growth of research or development in science and technology in Puerto Rico.
(b) Federal agency.— Shall mean the United States of America, its President, any of the departments of the Executive Branch of the Government of the United States of America or any corporation, agency or instrumentality created or that could be created, designated or established by the United States of America.
(c) Bank.— Shall mean the Government Development Bank for Puerto Rico, created by virtue of §§ 551—568 of Title 7.
(d) Science.— Shall mean the set of knowledge obtained through observation, experimentation and reasoning, systematically structured and from which principles and general laws are deduced, and includes, among others, knowledge related to exact, physics-chemistry and natural sciences, as well as the study thereof.
(e) Biology science.— Shall mean the science that deals with living things, including, among others, their molecular composition and the vital phenomena according to the properties of their molecular structure, and that for purposes of this chapter, comprises the use of cellular and molecular processes to solve problems or make products including, without being limited to, those processes that use cells and biological molecules for applications to medicine, agriculture, and environmental management, medical equipment and instruments, medicine and the pharmaceutical industry (medical laboratories, hospitals and medical centers), organic chemicals used in agriculture and investigation, development and analysis service.
(f) Company.— Shall mean the Puerto Rico Industrial Development Company.
(g) Council of Trustees.— Shall mean the group of persons designated as trustees of the Trust.
(h) Eligible costs.— Shall mean those costs pertaining to a research or development of science and technology project, which qualifies to be defrayed with funds obtained from the Trust by virtue of the what is provided by the Council of Trustees in the regulation it approves, and which may include, without it being understood as a limitation, the following:
(1) Costs of the plant, equipment, machinery, raw material and materials;
(2) costs of recruiting talent, which shall be defined by regulations by the Council of Trustees;
(3) costs of acquisition of land, construction of buildings, development of the necessary social infrastructure or the adaptation of existing facilities;
(4) fees for consulting services or any other type of remuneration paid to technical advisors consulted with regard to a research and development, payment of salaries, stipends, traveling expenses and per diems to be paid to persons for research or development activities or with the identification of development of products, services and processes, and
(5) general, administrative and operating expenses.
(i) Department.— Shall mean the Department of the Department of Economic Development and Commerce.
(j) Eligible costs.— Shall mean those costs pertaining to a research or development of science and technology project, which qualifies to be defrayed with funds obtained from the Trust as provided by the Council of Trustees, and which may include, without it being understood as a limitation, the following:
(1) Costs of the plant, laboratory, equipment, machinery, raw material and materials;
(2) costs of recruiting talent, which shall be defined by regulations by the Council of Trustees;
(3) costs of acquisition of land, construction of buildings, development of the necessary social infrastructure or the adaptation of existing facilities;
(4) fees for consulting services or any other type of remuneration paid to technical and/or professional advisors consulted with regard to research and development, payment of salaries, stipends, traveling expenses and per diems to be paid to persons for research or development activities or with the identification of development of products, services and processes;
(5) general, administrative, and operating expenses; and
(6) costs to attain the protection of copyrights through patents.
(k) Development.— Shall mean activities directed to the improvement or establishment of materials, products, components, systems or services with innovative attributes.
(l) Executive Director.— Shall mean the Executive Director of the Trust.
(m) Benefited entity.— Shall mean any natural or juridical person, including any government entity which is provided with funds from the Trust.
(n) Deed of trust.— Shall mean the public deed through which the Fund is created issued by the Secretary of Economic Development and Commerce and the President of the University of Puerto Rico, acting as trustors.
(o) Trust.— Shall mean Puerto Rico Science, Technology and Research Trust, whose creation is authorized by this chapter.
(p) Fund.— Shall mean the Puerto Rico Science, Technology and Research Fund created in § 695d of this title.
(q) Government.— Shall mean the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico including all its subdivisions, public corporations and municipalities.
(r) Research.— Shall mean study or work, including theoretical or experimental projects, with the objective of obtaining or broadening knowledge on any science, which could or could not be related to practical results.
(s) Office.— Shall mean the Office of Management and Budget.
(t) Person.— Shall mean any natural or juridical person; Provided, That in the case of juridical persons, it could be of public or private nature, and organized or existing under the laws of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the United States of America or of any state of the United States.
(u) Proponent.— Shall mean the person who requests financial aid from the Trust.
(v) Trust projects.— Shall mean those science or technology research or development projects that the Council of Trusts determines that qualify to be financed with Trust funds.
(w) Trade secret.— Shall mean that the owner of a commercial or trade secret has a nondisclosure privilege that may be invoked by him/her or by his/her agent or employee and that may prevent another person from disclosing it, provided it does not intend to conceal fraud or cause an injustice.
(x) Technology.— Shall mean the group of theories, knowledge and techniques that allow for the practical attainment of scientific knowledge, including industrial instruments and procedures of a determined sector or product.
(y) Information and communications technology.— Shall mean the attainment or practical application of the knowledge of information and communications science, and comprises any communications device or software including, but not limited to radio, television, cellular phones, computers, data equipment, network equipments, programs, satellite systems, as well as services and software related thereto such as video conference and distance education, and computer tools to acquire, store, organize, file, analyze and visualize data.
(z) University.— Shall mean the University of Puerto Rico.
(aa) Private university.— Shall mean any private university licensed by the Council on Higher Education of Puerto Rico.
History —Aug. 18, 2004, No. 214, § 2; Apr. 27, 2012, No. 67, § 1.