UG Develops Intellectual Property Policy

An Intellectual Property (IP) policy is being developed by the Office of Research, Innovation and Development (ORID) of the University of Ghana (UG) to provide the needed incentives and security for innovative research at the university. The ORID will be responsible for the implementation, administration and management of the IP Policy, which is critical to harnessing innovation at the university. It is further expected to ensure that research or innovation technologies created by the university is transferred to industry for development of beneficial and ethically acceptable processes, products and services and also offer equitable returns to the inventor(s) and the originating unit. Some of the underpinnings of the IP Policy are ownership of Intellectual property; invention disclosure; technology development; technology transfer; and revenue distribution. At a maiden seminar at the university on IP, a Research and Development Officer at ORID, Ms Diana A. Owusu Antwi, explained that the purpose of the policy was to create an enabling environment for the creation of knowledge, safeguard the rights of researchers to control their scholarly works and promote innovation, to enhance IP generating activities of the university. It is also to provide researchers with opportunities for funding for research activities, facilitate the dissemination of research findings and innovation through a timely and efficient means of technology transferas well as the effective use of inventions such that the public derives maximum benefit. She further explained that an invention disclosure would involve providing a written description of one�s invention, the inventor�s rationale, and significance of the invention. In some cases, a drawing(s) of the invention may be needed to make for a better understanding of the invention. �The importance of avoiding a disclosure (premature disclosure) before filing for protection is stressed to ensure that the works of our scientists are adequately protected so they can derive maximum benefit from the commercialisation of these inventions.� Ms Owusu Antwi said the university would set up a Technology Transfer Unit (TTU) to evaluate invention disclosures and other IPs disclosed to it in order to determine whether or not it would be accepted for the purposes of protection, commercialisation and licensing based on its potential benefits, commercial potential and industrial relevance. She added that patented inventions would be transferred from the university to industry through licensing to an established company. The Pro-Vice Chancellor, Research, Innovation and Development, Prof. John Owusu Gyapong, said the drive of every university was research-based such that elsewhere universities were making money in patent rights. He said knowledge had become a main factor in the production of goods and services; consequently, IP systems were essential and offered an enabling environment for the advancement of a knowledge-based economy. The Vice Chancellor of the university, Prof. Ernest Ayettey, asked that scientists must be provided incentives in order to motivate more of them to engage in research.