| Even very small producers and innovators can benefit from the IP system | |
| |  | | | | | |  | | |  | | | | | From
left to right: Delegation of African Union Minister Counsellor
Sivaramen Palayathan, moderator and Vice chair of ICC's IP commission
Peter Siemsen, Nigerian Ambassador Joseph Ayalogu and Organisation
Africaine de la Propriété Intelletuelle Director General Anthioumane
N'diaye
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Delegates
from countries in Africa, Asia, Central Europe, Latin America and the
Caribbean gathered in Geneva on 30 and 31 May to discuss how the
intellectual property system can be used to help a country's
development. ICC's
Commission on Intellectual Property hosted a set of four panel
discussions entitled "Making intellectual property work for
development." Experiences were shared on national innovation
strategies; helping small and medium-sized entreprises gain access to
the intellectual property system; access to educational and scientific
information; and development of local enterprise, investment and
know-how regarding genetic resources.
Anthioumiane N'Diaye,
Director General of Organisation Africaine de le Propriété
Intellectuelle, spoke about his organization's strategy in promoting
technological innovation in francophone Africa. He explained how they
help innovators during three important phases: giving technological
information before the research starts; providing funding during the
research phase; and subsidizing patent fees. They also help inventors
meet businessmen and financiers and have established a special fund to
support innovation and the creation of micro, small and medium-sized
businesses.
"Governments have to put measures into place that improve the innovative
potential of enterprises and their capacity to recognize and integrate
new technologies. Governments must also raise awareness that the future
of a country and the wellbeing of its population are greatly determined
by those who invent and innovate," Mr N'Diaye said.
Anil Gupta, President of the Society for Research and Initiatives for
Sustainable Technologies and Institutions (SRISTI) and founder of the
Honeybee Network in rural India, described how his organizations had
succeeded in documenting more than 50,000 grassroots inventions such as
coconut tree climbers, amphibious bicycles and others which had been
successfully patented and commercialized in India, the US and
elsewhere. "Inventors
should be recognized and rewarded and not expected to subsidize the
cost of societies' search for cost effective and novel solutions," Mr
Gupta said. "Economically poor people are often rich in knowledge and
putting in place appropriate measures can make a difference to their
lives through agricultural and health technologies." Teresa
Mera, former Director of Trademarks with the Peruvian government
explained how in his country, where 75% of enterprises were micro
enterprises, the trademark office had succeeded in helping small
producers and artisans to be more competitive by using collective
trademarks and appellations of origin like the Pisco drink or Cumbe
fruit.
Brian Wafawarowa, founder of New African Books,
general and educational publishing house in South Africa noted that
piracy and instability in school curricula have contributed to the dire
state of the publishing industry in Africa, which is mainly dependent
on educational books. The African continent consumes more than 12% but
contributes less than 3% of all books that are read in the world.
In the same panel addressing the issue of access to educational and
scientific information, Maurice Long with the International Association
of Science, Technical and Medical Publishers, described three
programmes they have set up to provide institutions in developing
countries with free or low-cost access to scientific journals relating
to healthcare, agriculture and the environment.
Pascal Phlix from the European Patent Office (EPO) spoke about the large
amount of technical information available to the public via the EPO
patent databases. Much of this was freely usable by the public,
especially in countries where patents were not valid. He explained how
information found through this database allowed an association to
produce solar hearing aids for children in Ethiopia.
On the topic of genetic resources, Novozymes Director and Senior Patent
Counsel, Bo Hammer Jensen, talked about how his company searched for
enzymes in natural products in different ecosystems. He also explained
the steps it took to obtain permission from and share benefits with the
communities and countries keeping these genetic resources, and to share
benefits with them. The
event follows a similarly successful exchange held in February this
year and is part of ICC's Commission on Intellectual Property's ongoing
commitment to sharing concrete experiences of how the IP system can be
used in developing nations to create wealth and employment. Please click on the links below to see: The program with links to the presentations Summary of presentations Biographical information on the speakers
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