A national workshop on ‘Developing Intellectual Property (IP) Generation, Management and Commercialization in Mauritius’ opened this morning at the Hennessy Park Hotel in Ebène, in the presence of the Minister of Land Transport and Light Metro, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Regional Integration and International Trade, Mr. Alan Ganoo.

The Ambassador and Head of Delegation of the European Union (EU) to the Republic of Mauritius and the Republic of Seychelles, Mr. Vincent Degert, was present on this occasion.

The workshop, jointly organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Regional Integration and International Trade and the European Union, aimed to raise awareness among stakeholders, namely entrepreneurs, researchers and academics, who are involved in development of intellectual property, on the use of their creation as a means of generating income through the commercialization of their product protected by intellectual property. A team of four experts, supported by the EU, had planned during the workshop two round tables on the generation of intellectual property in universities and the commercialization of intellectual property from the point of view of the private sector and research institutes.

In his address, Minister Ganoo highlighted the objectives of the workshop which included promoting the generation of intellectual property rights, protecting the creation of the mind and using the registered right to earn more revenue when the sale of creation. “It’s a new state of mind that the government wants to encourage,” he said.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs stressed that the government remains aware of the need for Mauritius to constantly reinvent itself to be able to compete globally, attract foreign direct investment and increase the share of revenue. generated by intellectual property in the balance of payments. He said reinventing competitiveness was even more necessary today given the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the economy. According to Ganoo, the future of the country lies in research, development and innovation, and the government’s goal is to support innovative entrepreneurs, artists or creators, whose inventions will lead to the future development path of Mauritius.

Furthermore, the Minister expressed his gratitude to the EU Delegation in Mauritius for the strong support provided to the government in implementing the key recommendations of the National Intellectual Property Development Plan. “The plan”, he informed, “was drawn up in cooperation with the World Intellectual Property Organization and included recommendations concerning the adoption of comprehensive new industrial property legislation, the realization of a comprehensive capacity building program and the opportunity to mainstream IP into sector development policies and policies.

He recalled that the comprehensive new Industrial Property Law, adopted by the National Assembly in 2019, was now fully operational and included a set of measures that made the Mauritian intellectual property system more responsive to the needs of the economy. “The law,” the minister stressed, “denotes the government’s commitment to creating an investment-friendly environment and transforming our economy into a vibrant economy.”

In addition, the Minister announced that the government would soon review the structure of the Industrial Property Office to create an empowered “Mauritius Industrial Property Office”, which would play a greater role in integrating the intellectual property in all aspects of economic development.

As for Mr. Vincent Degert, he congratulated the Government of Mauritius for the achievements made and added that, as Mauritius was about to celebrate its 54th anniversary of independence, it was time to focus on intellectual property as next stage of development. “Intellectual property,” he said, “is central to the success of any country and is poised to promote trade and investment, drive economic growth and competitiveness, and help the economy to grow and mature”.

He also referred to the benefits for Mauritius of having a strong intellectual property framework through patents, copyrights, design rights, trademarks, among others, which would enable companies to be more competitive in the markets. nationals and foreigners. “If Mauritius is to realize its potential for intellectual property development, then it is essential to establish an environment that allows businesses to operate efficiently and securely across borders,” he said.

Furthermore, the EU Ambassador pointed out that EU support to Mauritius would enable the country to access international treaties which would bring more clarity in the intellectual property framework and transform Mauritius into a competitive and innovation in the region.

Workshop

Mauritius is conducting a comprehensive capacity building program to ensure the effective and efficient implementation of the new Industrial Property Act 2019, which entered into force on January 31, 2022.

This project was launched in January 2020 and has since been continued by the consultants, despite the Covid-19, to draft regulations under the Industrial Property Act 2019, prepare training manuals on various topics related to intellectual property and conduct a comprehensive capacity building program. for the benefit of many players in different sectors of the economy.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of the Republic of Mauritius.