Description

The Science Granting Councils, Universities and Research Institutes have historically given primacy to their tangible assets including land, buildings, machinery, equipment and other forms of physical infrastructure. However, the rapid transition to knowledge society and knowledge-based economies is shifting the focus to intangible assets as the source of competitive advantage to organizations, firms and national economies. Intellectual Property Rights form key intangible assets emanating from research, scholarly work and innovation which form the primary products of these innovation system actors. They spread across both the public and private spheres and hence any public-sector institution entering into research partnerships with private sector entities will confront IP issues. More significantly IP management issues and potential conflicts are likely to arise in government funding schemes – a key function of the science granting councils. The situation gets even more Countries and other parts of the world, SGCs will confront differing IP systems. Enhancing their capacities negotiate, supported by guiding documents and evidence, would ensure they take off from an informed position. It will further be useful when resolving disputes related to ownership, disclosure, and the distribution of income from intellectual assets. Most of the universities and public research institutes now have institutional IP policies and have established technology transfer offices (TTOs). While such offices still suffer from understaffing and under-resourcing, they nonetheless play an important role in facilitating IP management and industry liaison within the national research and innovation systems. Their work needs to be supported and complemented by key government institutions and agencies such as the national intellectual property office (where such exists) and other relevant regional (e.g. ARIPO and OAPI) and international bodies such as World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).