Nigerian innovators get connected

• Author: Sunday Daniel
• Position: Freelance journalist, Nigeria
• Pages: 32-33

p. 32 2014 | 1

NIGERIAN

INNOVATORS GET

CONNECTED By Sunday Daniel,

freelance journalist,

Nigeria

In a quiet room away from the heat and hustle of the N igerian

capital’s streets, a half-dozen African innovators pee r into com

-

puter screens, lost in conce ntration as they work on making

their dreams come true.

They are using networked com puter equipment to search

overseas intellectual prope rty (IP) databases, glea ning insight

into the worldwide usage of patents, tradem arks, industrial

designs and other IP. The Technology and Innovation Support

Center, or TISC, where they are working is one of many similar

public-resource ofc es set up by governments in developing

countries in collaboration with WIPO. The goal: help make the

international IP system accessib le to as many users as possible.

MAKING IP ACCES SIBLE TO ALL

Ididunni Annette Robe rts has been using the Abuj a TISC, in-

augurated in December 2012, in a quest to bring to market her

“IBY Nature Pride Black Soap.” Ms. Roberts has sub mitted the

soap for testing by Nigeria’s food and drug-safety un it and is

now “seeking to register her tradem ark internationally.”

“I am happy to have discovered this Center, which has given

me the information I needed,” she said and this h as given me

the condence that what I am do ing is scientic and global. I

am satised that the product I have develo ped using the infor-

mation from TISC, is entirely mine and is not b eing claimed by

anyone else,” she said.

PROMOTING BEST PRACTICES

WIPO launched the TISC projec t in 2009 (see www.wipo.int/

wipo_magazine/en/2013/05/article_0001.html). In the context of

a joint engagement with national and regional industrial property

authorities, WIPO suppor ts the TISCs by facilitating access to

databases and training ( both of trainers and of local users, on-

site and through distance learning); providing information and

training materials; supporting awareness-raising activities; and

disseminating best prac tices and experiences am ong TISCs.

TISCs are usually hosted withi n national and regional patent

ofces, universitie s and other academic institutions, science and

research centers, local a nd regional technoparks, chamb ers

of commerce or other similar public institutions.

The TISCs host Internet-enabled co mputers that access WIPO’s

international databases of intell ectual property infor mation,

including Patentscope for patent informatio n and the Global

Brand Database for tradema rk-related information free of charge.

TISC users can also acce ss a range of scientic journals, tech-

nical literature and other comm ercial patent resources for free,

where they may be fee-based for use rs in developed countries.

FREE ACCESS TO DATABASES FOR DEVE LOPING

COUNTRIES

The goal is to help people like Edw in Nicholas Uwa and Mark

Ogochukwu Abi a turn their ideas into products that will boo st

their earnings. The pa ir, who are researching a dual-purpose

air conditioner and refr igerator, used to spend time – and h ard-

earned cash – at loca l cybercafés. But without the guida nce

offered by the staff of the Abu ja TISC, the duo found themselves

adrift in a sea of confu sing information.

“Since we started using the TI SC we have been able to download

the kind of information we neede d and this has really helped

us in our research work,” Mr. Uwa said. “The most exciting

thing about this place is that we ca n access valuable strategic

information and it is all free -of-charge.”

“Before now, we used to go from one cybercafé to the other

without really getting a ny value for our money. But now, we are

happy to say that TISC has provided us with the k ind of infor-

mation we need for our research at n o cost at all,” said Mr. Abia.

“THE WORLD WILL ON E DAY CELEBRATE US”

“We have been provided with fres h ideas on how to go about

our research and develop ment. Because of the information

we are getting from the TISC, the world will on e day celebrate

us,” said Mr. Uwa.

Since its inauguration in De cember 2012 by Nigeria’s Trade and

Industries Minister, Dr. Olusegun Aganga, dozens of Nigeri ans