Africa-Press – Liberia. L-R: Garmai Koboi, Director General of the Liberia Intellectual Property Organization, and Mr. Christopher Kalanje, Advisor in the Intellectual Property Division for businesses at the World Intellectual Property Office, speak at the closing of the WIPO-supported IP management clinic project by LIPO
Christopher Kalanje, the Advisor in the Intellectual Property Division for businesses at the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), has expressed excitement about the initial impact of the WIPO-sponsored Intellectual Property (IP) Management Clinic in Liberia.
Kalanje, who is a visiting guest of the Liberia Intellectual Property Office, notes that the project was able to achieve its primary goal of educating owners of some of the country’s most promising SMEs to understand the economic importance of IP and how it can be managed as an important business asset.
Kalanje’s excitement, which he says will be incorporated into his reports, comes as the project, which began in the second quarter of last year, addressed the knowledge gap among 30 SME owners who lacked a basic understanding of Intellectual Property Rights and management in their operations.
As a result of the project, about three SME owners filed for trademark protection and received certificates, while dozens more applications are being reviewed.
The dearth of IP knowledge among the vast majority of SME owners across Liberia, according to Garmai Koboi, Director-General of LIPO, will be significantly addressed through the second phase of the project, which is expected soon.
Koboi noted that the project is one of the most successful LIPO has managed, as it achieved its overwhelming goals of “enhancing SMEs’ owners’ understanding of the importance of IP and how they can document and analyze their IP management strategies” throughout the innovation process, from ideation, development, manufacturing, branding, to marketing.
“The IP Management Clinic project was indeed one of the most successful projects hosted by LIPO with the support of the World Intellectual Property Program,” Koboi added. “Throughout the duration of this project, we had 30 SME owners ranging from the Food Processing industries to Fashion design, who initially lacked the basic understanding of IP rights and management in their operations.”
“However, this is no longer the case — as we stand — we have now — at least three SME owners from the project now have IP projection for their business and about a dozen more have submitted applications for protections,” she said.
According to Koboi, LIPO is bracing itself for more applications in the coming weeks from the remaining SMEs.
Years before the project, Koboi noted the participants SMEs owners had been operating without filing for applications because of limited understanding — only becoming cognizant of registering at the Liberia Business Registry Office, but not at LIPO.
“So, the fact that we have granted certificates of registration to three SMEs from the project and that we are reviewing about a dozen applications from the participants SMEs, who never had an idea about what Intellectual Property is, is a clear manifestation that the project has been successful, meeting all its stated goals and objectives,” Koboi added.
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