03 Apr 2022

Government is determined to protect proprietary rights of investors or creators and owners.
In an effort to implement such, Minister of Investment, Trade and Industry, Mr Mmusi Kgafela presented the Intellectual Property Policy of 2021, which Members of Parliament subsequently thumbed up after deliberating on it recently.

Presenting the policy before Parliament earlier, Mr Kgafela indicated that the document was developed in an effort to close the gap of lack of intellectual property as a driver for economic development.
Mr Kgafela said intellectual property (IP) was a collection of ideas and concepts, which led to intellectual creations in the form of intangible or knowledge property.
“Intellectual Property, like other forms of property, needs protection because it embodies proprietary rights of investors or creators and owners, and this protection is provided through intellectual property laws,” Mr Kgafela said.

He said intellectual property   fell into two major categories, Industrial Property and Copyright & Neighbouring (related) rights.
Industrial property on the one hand involves protection of creators’ rights on technology inventions and innovations such as patents, trade and services marks, industrial designs, trade secrets, integrated circuits and rights on place of origin known as geographical indication while Copyright and Neighbouring rights entails protection of the rights of authorship of literary and artistic works, performances in music, drama, cinematography as well as protection of databases and architectural drawings.

Developed with the assistance of World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), he said Botswana Intellectual Property Policy was developed with the primary objective of leveraging the country’s intellectual property  potential to achieve inclusive and sustainable economic growth and development.
He informed Parliament that successful implementation of the policy would enable the country to use its IP potential towards being a knowledge-based economy and to diversify the economy to create prosperity for all.

The policy, he said, envisioned Botswana as an intellectual property driven economy by 2036 and when fully implemented the country would be in line with the policy theme of;  Fully Harnessing intellectual property   for Economic Transformation.’
He also explained that the policy focus areas defined the core areas, which would be implemented to achieve its vision and objectives, which included enabling intellectual property   Governance and Framework.

“This involves the formulation of appropriate policies, strategies as well as legislation and structures that create a conducive environment for the protection, commercialisation and enforcement of intellectual property rights,” he said.

The policy objectives, he said, also focused on financing for intellectual property generation and commercialisation, where government, the private sector and development partners would be expected to mobilise critical financial resources to support the process. Furthermore, Mr Kgafela said the policy was aimed at developing education and training capacities, which involved promoting public awareness on intellectual property and its associated rights as well as formal education and training programmes to enhance knowledge of individuals and institutions on IP.

In addition, he said the policy would help promote the tourism sector, where government would ensure that the country optimally utilised intellectual property to stimulate private sector-driven growth in tourism, adding that such would promote increased tourist activities and effective citizen participation in the sector.

The policy will also cover the healthcare industry, creative industries as well as intellectual property entrepreneurship and enterprise development.
In their deliberations, some Legislators welcomed the policy and commended the ministry for developing it in order to help transform the country’s economy from a resource-based to a knowledge-based economy.

The legislators were happy that the policy would help protect products, knowledge, music and all related materials and empower Batswana to earn a living from their own talents.
Legislators urged the minister to implement the policy fully for the benefit of Batswana.ENDS