Microsoft portal eases trademark processes for innovators
Mr Louis Otieno, Microsoft Corporate Affairs Director, Afrika Initiativen (centre) explains the features of the Microsoft IP Hub to Juliana Rotich, Executive Director of Ushahidi and Gabriel Mranda, Director, Mranda Technologies (right) during the portal’s launch in Nairobi. Annie Njanja
What you need to know:
To market or sell an innovation, its creators must have a proof of ownership which can be determined through a patent or a trademark.
The free- to- use portal will encourage developers to rely on legal means in protecting their innovations.
IP Hub portal is open to all app developers and not exclusive to windows app developers.
Maureen Macharia, a key developer of Mavazi, an online closet application, is in search of venture capitalists. And although she looks forward to develop the product further, the future remains uncertain because her team is yet to protect the innovation from competitors.
She is among many developers in the country who prefer channelling their limited resources to business development instead of hiring a lawyer to take them through the process of protecting their intellectual property.
Ms Macharia cites the expensive and tedious process of trademark and patent application, and the lack of supportive systems as the main reasons for the delayed submission.
“We have not yet engaged use of any of IP protection channels, even though we have considered it. We understand that it is beneficial and important but we are reluctant because those channels are time-consuming and expensive because you have to involve a lawyer,” she added.
Although the tech industry is catching on in terms of popularity, and new inventions coming up in quick succession, it is established that many developers are also not fully informed on how to protect their innovations.
According to recent data by the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), Kenya ranked low after local developers made 143 IP fillings in comparison to South Africa’s 608 in 2012.
However the number is set to increase after Microsoft launched Microsoft 4Africa IP Hub, a digital Intellectual Property (IP) portal to offer developers and independent software vendors a chance to protect and commercialise their innovations.
By making it a free-to-use portal Microsoft hopes to stop developers’ reliance on secrecy instead of legal means in protecting their creations.
“Most African innovators function on the premise that the invention is theirs until someone else takes it to market, or duplicates it. As Africa’s innovation continues to flourish, the future remains uncertain if these promising ideas are not supported and protected properly,” said Louis Otieno, director for Legal and Corporate Affairs, Microsoft 4Afrika.
Nancy Karanu, an associate partners specialising in intellectual property at MMC Africa, says that while protecting works is not an easy process it is a form of insurance that entrepreneurs should take.
Mrs Karanu says that she advises clients to go about protecting their work with the same diligence they use when buying property. This, she says, ensures that others do not ride on the work of the entrepreneur.
“Would you let someone use your land without you getting some form of economic gain,” posed Mrs Karanu in an interview with Business Daily. Getting certification can take between five and six months so the earlier you get started the better it is, she adds.
On joining IP Hub, a developer gets access to expert advice on the best way of protecting their innovation and access to high tech technology-to further develop the invention for commercial purposes. IP Hub will also act as a meeting point for capitalists and innovators.
Commenting on the need to protect innovations, Kunle Awosika, Microsoft’s country manager said: “As Africa’s innovation continues to flourish, the future remains uncertain if these promising innovators are not supported and protected properly. Innovators must have proof of ownership to be able to market or sell their innovation. Many do not know this, and for those that do, the process of filling IP protection can be long, manual and intimidating.”
Through IP Hub, Microsoft will also offer legal assistance to developers, whose intellectual property rights have been infringed. For a period of two years, the portal will be under the management of Microsoft, after which it will be passed on to the government.
Other than the Microsoft initiative how else can someone protect his or her IP? Cathy Mputhia, a partner at Muthoga Gaturu advocates in a previous article in the Business Daily noted that to protect one's brand in the global market, it is important to seek intellectual property (IP) right whenever one is exporting goods and services.
“The nature of intellectual property rights is that there is a territorial limit,” she said.
However, she added that sometimes it is possible to get protection in many different countries by filing one registration in Kenya. This is dependent on the type of protection sought and if Kenya is a signatory to some of the IP treaties that cover simultaneous territories.
“In respect to copyright protection, for example, if you are a resident in a country which is a party to the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic works or if your country is a member of the World Trade Organisation which is bound by the TRIPS agreement and have published your work in one of the member countries then your work is automatically protected in member states,” Ms Mputhia noted.
She added that one way of doing this is by seeking protection in the country of export through its intellectual property office. One will be required to pay the fees as prescribed by the national IP office in question.
This system is more desirable if someone is exporting his or her innovations to only a few number of countries. Then you will seek protection in the national office of each country of export.
However, if you are exporting your goods to a region where they have regional IP agreements, then it would be better to get protection via the regional offices rather than the national IP offices.
For example the European Patent Office. When you protect your IP globally the benefits include limiting the risk exposure for your innovations due to infringements or counterfeit.
