Skip to main content

Committee on property rights inaugurated

By Kofi Ahovi
A National Intellectual Property Policy Committee (NIPPC) and Technical Coordination Group charged with the mandate to establish national Intellectual Property Policy development have been inaugurated.

The committees are to enable formal exchange of information on annual basis, provide strategic guidance to ensure that Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) operate in line with the country's development trend.

They are also to ensure the provision of transfer of technology among key stakeholders on operations of IPR, create avenue for innovation to enhance productivity and facilitate trade and industrial competitiveness.

The committees under the supervision of Ministry of Trade (MOTI) and the Ministry of Justice and Attorney General's Department, were initiated through the Government's Trade Sector Support Programme.

According to the Minister of Trade, Hannah Tetteh, who inaugurated the committees, the move is to ensure that the practice conforms to international best practices.

The Government of Switzerland through the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) is funding the project.

The committees are made up of representatives from MOTI, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Food and Agriculture, National Commission on Culture, Association of Ghana Industries, Institute of Industrial Research, Copyright Office, University of Ghana’s Faculty of Law, and Ministry of Health.

Others are National Board for Small Scale Industries, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Customs Excise and Preventive Service, Ministry of Science and Technology, Ministry of Justice, Ghana Police Service, Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences and the Food and Drugs Board.

The rest are Ghana Chamber of Commerce, National Planning Development Commission, Ghana Consumer Association, Registrar General's Department and Musicians Union of Ghana.

The trade minister assured of Ghana’s readiness to take advantage of IPR over products and services unique to the country in its quest to maximise the gains from international trade.

"We ought to be in the business of identifying these products and the scale of the opportunities and strategies to maximise the potential gains from them and getting value," she noted.

Representative of the Swiss Government, Ingo Meitinger, said the project was to ensure that National Intellectual Property Policy was articulated, explore avenues for enactment of legislation in all areas of the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Agreement and make it fully operational, updated and completed.

The project also has a component for increasing public awareness and understanding of intellectual property issues, continuous sensitisation of the Judiciary on intellectual property issues, establishment of efficient automated industrial property management system and institutionalisation of electronic Copyright Register

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Nestlé Ghana Limited Wins Overall Best Industrial Company Of The Year at 13th AGI Industry & Quality Awards

  Nestlé Ghana Limited has been honored with four prestigious awards at the 13th Association of Ghana Industry and Quality Awards ceremony. The event, held in an esteemed setting, gathered prominent figures from Ghana’s industrial sector. Amidst the anticipation, Nestlé Ghana emerged as one of the evening’s notable winners, securing accolades in several key categories. This recognition underscores Nestlé Ghana’s relentless pursuit of excellence and innovation, marking a significant milestone that highlights the company’s substantial contributions to the manufacturing industry in Ghana. Nestlé Ghana's exceptional performance was acknowledged with the following awards: Overall Best National Quality Award, Diamond Category (Food) Overall Best Practices in Sustainable Manufacturing Best Company (Food Sector) Overall Industrial Company of the Year, affirming its status as a leader not only within the food sector but also across Ghana's entire industrial landscape. This success is a ...

Anglogold Ashanti Obuasi Mine tops 2024 Sustainability & Social Investment Awards

 AngloGold Ashanti Obuasi Mine has confirmed its status as sustainability champions by sweeping nine awards, the most won by a company at the 2024 Sustainability & Social Investment Awards (SSI) held at Movenpick Ambassador Hotel in Accra. The feat comes on the heels of a dominant performance in last year's event where AngloGold Ashanti Obuasi Mine swept seven awards. The SSI Awards organised by Ianmatsun Global Services recognizes the most outstanding sustainability, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) initiatives in the country and beyond as well as the best teams and individuals who brought them to life. This year's event, which was the 8th edition, was under the theme "Climate Action Now: Accelerating Decarbonization and Building Resilience". The awards won by AngloGold Ashanti on the night include SSI Company of the Year, Best Company in Women Empowerment (project), SSI Company of the Year ( Environment), Best Co...

Zoomlion Advocates Community & Gender inclusive waste management for Climate Action at COP 29

 Africa's waste management giant, Zoomlion Ghana Limited has advocated for an integrated approach to waste management that considers the interest of community members, women and vulnerable groups. James Deku, a Communications Officer of Zoomlion Ghana Limited made this call at the 29th session of the Conference Of Parties (COP 29) of the United Nations Framework Convention for Climate Change (UNFCCC) at Azerbaijan, Baku whiles speaking on the topic "Community-Driven and Gender Inclusive approaches to waste management for Climate Action ". He said the waste sector is a major contributor of methane emissions which is a potent greenhouse gas causing climate change hence the need to manage waste in a manner that considers the interest of all stakeholders. Zoomlion's waste management model is designed and operated in a manner that considers the interest of all stakeholders. Through a Public Private Partnership (PPP) model, local authorities engage community members in clea...