Seminar on Intellectual Property underway in Accra
A national seminar on Intellectual Property (IP) has opened in Accra with a call on policy makers to ensure that the country has a legal and administrative framework in place for people to derive maximum benefits from their innovations.
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The five-day roving seminar aims, among others, to create awareness of international property as a tool for adding value to creativity and innovations.
Participants will, thus, discuss how to promote and protect intellectual property rights in the country and at the regional level, the protection and utilisation of traditional knowledge, genetic resources and the expression of folklore.
It is being organised by the African Regional Intellectual Property Organisation (ARIPO) in collaboration with the Register Generals Department.
The seminar, which is the eleventh to be organised by ARIPO in different African countries, is also aimed at encouraging African countries to take the issue of IP serious and use it as a driving force for development.
The Deputy Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Dr Dominic Ayini, in an address said the government was interested in using intellectual property to reduce the knowledge gap of users and policy makers to ensure greater participation in IP issues.
He said the government would continue to improve and adapt intellectual property laws and protection systems to changing circumstances, as well as promote respect for the recognition of all intellectual property rights.
Training
The minister said that could be achieved only through training or the development of human capital which had become an essential component of economic development.
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“As you may be all aware, in an increasingly knowledge-driven economy, intellectual property is a key consideration in day-to-day business decisions. New products, brands and creative designs appear almost daily on the market which are the best results of continuous human innovation and creativity,” Dr Ayini said.
He added that taking full advantage of the IP system enabled research institutions, companies and individuals to profit from their innovative capacity and creativity which encouraged and helped fuel further innovation.
Ghana, he said, had put in place strong protective systems for the promotion of economic growth, “one of which is the intellectual property system under the trade sector reforms”.
Roving seminar
The Director General of ARIPO, Mr Fernando dos Santos, said the roving seminars were devised with the aim to promote the use of IP in the ARIPO member states.
He said for Ghana to derive the full benefits of ARIPO, it was necessary for it to ratify the Banjul Protocol which was for the protection of marks, the Swakopmund Protocol which was for the protection of traditional knowledge and expressions of folklore and thirdly the Arusha Protocol, for the protection of new varieties of plants aimed at enhancing agricultural productivity.
Writer's email: rebecca.quaicoe-duho@graphic.com.gh