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[Reposted from Department of Trade and Industry website, Link]  The Minister of Trade and Industry, Dr Rob Davies says Intellectual Property (IP) if it is correctly used and implemented can assist the country to achieve its developmental goals. He was speaking at the Intellectual Property Conference hosted by the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission (CIPC) and the National Intellectual Property Management Office (NIMPO) in Durban last night. The theme of the conference which is attended by local and international IP practitioners is “Creating and Leveraging Intellectual Property in Developing Countries:  A Power Tool for Social and Economic Growth”, and is attended by local and international IP practitioners.

Minister Davies also launched the CIPC IP Portal and Techno-Preneurs Program at the conference. These two initiatives will make a positive contribution in the development, management and commercialisation of innovation in the country.

“As part of the continuous innovation in CIPC, we are launching this CIPC IP Portal which I am informed will be the market place for the innovators, traders and sellers of intellectual Property. This portal has a search capability as well as avenues to expose IP that is available for trading. This is also supported by the IP valuation methodology that has been made available through cooperation with the Denmark IP office. This should give the innovators an opportunity to assess the extent of the worthiness of his or her IP which should go a long way in facilitating the commercialisation of IP,” said Minister Davies.

The Techno-Preneurs Program is a partnership between the CIPC and the Technology Innovation Agency (TIA) and will allow the Techno-preneurs and potential Techno-preneurs to register. Techno-preneurs who have registered on the portal will be invited to a series of workshops which will be held in nine provinces.

“I am informed that this is aimed at ensuring that the innovators in the technology sector and more will be able to register on the database and post their ideas. They will then be supported in developing their ideas further, registering them and funded accordingly to the extent possible to ensure they develop to the commercialization phase. The two offices will also support and capacitate these innovators or potential innovators on IP development, management and fund them where necessary”, added Davies.

Minister Davies emphasised that for IP to be successfully used as a power tool for economic and social growth in developing countries it is important for all stakeholders to work together. This should include strengthened capacity for policy coordination and establishment of IP systems in developing countries.

Earlier in September 2013 the dti released the Draft National Policy on Intellectual Property 2013, which has various objectives including the following among others;

• Creating an environment conducive to economic opportunities aimed at empowering South African citizens;
• Developing a technology transfer strategy aimed at building domestic capacity and skills; and
• To engender confidence and attract investment

The policy also encourages coordination between the government departments, agencies, academic and research institutions, in the sphere of IP to ensure that there is unity of implementation and response to emerging challenges for an improved environment for the innovation and socio-economic prosperity.

Enquiries:
Sidwell Medupe-Departmental Spokesperson
Tel: (012) 394 1650
Mobile: 079 492 1774
E-mail: MSMedupe@thedti.gov.za
Issued by: The Department of Trade and Industry
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