Starting innovation early: SA schools get intellectual property programme

Today many countries around the world are celebrating World Intellectual Property Day, but in South Africa this year’s celebrations have a new chapter.

The Companies and Intellectual Property Commission together with the World Intellectual Property Organisation will be rolling out a full programme in schools over the next year.

The commissioner of the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission, Rory Voller, said that this programme aims to educate pupils about intellectual property systems and the gateway into the intellectual property space.

In 2000, the first World Intellectual Property Day was held on April 26. The 17th celebration of intellectual property this year focused on innovations and intellectual property protection of health and agriculture under the theme “innovation – improving lives”.

According to the commission, “the day is meant to celebrate human creativity, to acknowledge the socioeconomic importance of intellectual property and the protection”.

The commission said the celebration of this was meant to create awareness about intellectual property and intellectual property rights, and also encourage creativity and innovation by citizens.

According Voller, intellectual property referred to patents when people invent something of the mind that for everyday use, trademarks in branding and designs registrations and copyrights in artistry like music and poems.

“This all gives people an economic edge. It gives them the right to monopolise it. It gives them the right to have economic benefit from it” he added.

“Today is emphasising that by nature we are people who create things and we need to be able to protect them but also utilise other people’s intellectual property as well” said chief executive of The Innovation Hub, McLean Sibanda.

Sibanda added that intellectual property played an important in terms of creativity and building our economies.

Sibanda said as a developing country South Africans needed to be more curious. According to him the question of “how can we do things better?” is where innovation starts.