Students tipped on protecting innovations, Intellectual Property

 

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.

 

The students who are all Internet of Things (IOT) and robotics students at RVIBS are beneficiaries of the Sh 6.5 billion ($ 50 million)-World Bank Funded SKIES (Strengthening Kenya’s Innovation Ecosystem) scholarship program.

 

SKIES, which is being 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 and Entrepreneurship Project (KIEP) they are supporting these intermediaries who include RVIBS, eight 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 a senior research scientist at KIRDI attached to the Directorate of Technology Transfer and Extension Services Mr Winstone Nyaguti, 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 that 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 places 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.