Nakuru: The Kenya Industrial Research and Development Institute (KIRDI) and the Rift Valley Institute of Business Studies (RVIBS) have launched a campaign to train Kenyan entrepreneurs on Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) to protect their innovations. So far, 96 students from various local universities have been trained on the subject and its significance to their businesses and this will be a continuous training for young innovators.
According to Kenya News Agency, the students who are all Internet of Things (IOT) and Robotics students at RVIBS are beneficiaries of the Sh 6.5 billion (USD 50 million) World Bank Funded SKIES (Strengthening Kenya’s Innovation Ecosystem) scholarship program. SKIES, implemented by the Ministry of Investments, Trade and Industry through the State Department for Industry, aims to enhance the innovation ecosystem infrastructure by building the capacity of 13 Kenyan intermediaries such as incubators, accelerators, and technology boot camp providers.
Through the Kenya Industrial a
nd Entrepreneurship Project (KIEP), they are supporting these intermediaries, including RVIBS, 8 universities, and 500 start-ups, in developing and deepening their operational strengths and individual business models, ensuring operational sustainability, expansion, and improved quality of services provided.
According to Mr. Winstone Nyaguti, a senior research scientist at KIRDI, some students preferred to sell their innovations to institutions or researchers at lower rates and return to the drawing board to develop others instead of moving around to have them patented. Mr. Nyaguti said the training on Intellectual Property Rights (IP) is designed to empower the students with the knowledge they need to protect their IP rights and transform nascent business ideas into commercial businesses.
He observed that while various state agencies were initiating and implementing appropriate policies to facilitate increased protection and utilization of Intellectual Property, research shows entrepreneurs are least aware
of its contribution to their businesses. ‘This is the gap we are trying to fill through this initiative,’ he said during a training session at RVIBS main campus in Nakuru.
Articles 11 and 40 of the Constitution place an obligation on the Government to support, promote, and protect the intellectual property rights of the people of Kenya. Intellectual property is an internationally agreed system of incentives to support creators and innovators to release products useful for improved human experience. There are three main types of protection for innovation recognized under the Kenyan legal system: patents, copyrights, and trademarks.
The official disclosed that they had captured 35 innovations from the cohort at RVIBS that will find space in IP reward systems such as patents, utility models, and trademarks. He noted that patenting requires extensive advocacy, capacity building, and awareness. ‘There are a lot of innovations and ideas from this group particularly in the field of Information, Communication Techn
ology that need to be patented,’ he added.
Mr. Nyaguti further observed another significant proportion of innovative students do not engage themselves in actualization of their ideas out of fear that their creations would be stolen by others. ‘There is a need to sensitize young innovators on protection of their creative work. Apart from being aware of intellectual property rights, potential innovators should know the bodies that deal with property rights so that they can confirm the novelty of their ideas and the process of having those approved patented,’ he noted.
Mr. Nyaguti admitted that Technical Vocational Education Training Institutes (TVET), university, and college students normally showcased noble innovations during various exhibitions countrywide, but faulted them for disclosing more about the discoveries before they were patented.
Software Developer and Trainer at RVIBS Mr. John Waita noted that the creativity and innovativeness of brilliant young Kenyans needed to be legally secured from immine
nt theft as there were numerous innovations being developed by the youth who end up being edged out at the commercialization phase of their ingenious mental outputs.
Barasa Ivy, one of the beneficiaries of the training, indicated that she and her colleagues who have designed an e-platform to help those seeking scholarships, jobs, and industrial attachments were now fully aware of the procedures to follow to patent their invention. The App christened Career Support Platform comes with three modules namely administrator, career scholarship, and Industry liaison.
Wanja Muthami, one of the three innovators of an Internet of Things (IoT) technology that ensures optimal conditions for plant growth on farms, also plans to rally her colleagues to patent the invention. Ms. Muthami explains that the prototype they have developed can help farmers in automating irrigation systems and tracking soil moisture content.
Ms. Muthami is confident that the prototype they have developed has proved that it automatically control
s conditions in a greenhouse and enables a farmer to remotely monitor the situation. The system enables farmers to control a greenhouse with a smart-phone through a user-friendly app.
The researcher called on the Kenya Industrial Property Institute (KIPI) and other relevant government bodies including enforcement agencies and institutions of higher learning to collaborate and take the same knowledge to the youth and protect their intellectual property. ‘If all parties play their role, Kenya’s ranking will improve in the Intellectual Rights Global Index. More crucially, our youth will reap maximum dividends from their intellectual investments and will be even more motivated to re-invest in their minds,’ he pointed out.