By Musa Saho
“Youth constitute more than 50% of the country’s population. Thus encouraging them to spearhead the creation and innovation of patents or utility models for greater economic benefits [in the framework of Intellectual Property] is a step in the right direction”.
This was a remark by Mr. Abdoulie Colley, the Registrar General and Head of Intellectual Property (IP) at the Ministry of Justice, during an interview with Gambia Daily. Mr Colley is responsible for the administration of Intellectual Property in The Gambia.
He described IP as an effective policy tool in unlocking local creative, incentive and innovative potential. He said it “stimulates the transfer and use of foreign technologies and creative works and encourage fair competition, thereby, promoting the creation of wealth and fostering national social, cultural and economic development”.
Mr. Colley affirmed that the Intellectual Property system should be used as a tool for harnessing the creative potential of Gambians, promoting sustainable, inclusive and rapid social, and economic development. He added that it should be used to support the transformation of the Gambian economy and the attainment of the national vision as captured in the vision and mission of the National Intellectual Property Policy and Strategy Plan 2018-2023.
More on patents, the Registrar General explained that the creation of patent and utility can generate income for businesses through licensing, sales or commercialisation of protected products or services. “This can, in turn, improve market shares or raise profits for owners of the products or services. In case of sales, merger or acquisition, having registered and protected IP assets can raise the value of your business,” he elucidated.
Further on youth participation in patent creation, Mr Colley observed that generally the statistics of innovation and creativity in The Gambia is very low. He called on youth-led organisations and institutions to inspire youths to innovate and be creative.
The head of IP assured that with the right policies and infrastructures, his office will soon start receiving patents and utility model applications from young people of this country.
“In order to be innovative, we have to learn about what other people did before us and how we can improve on that. We cannot reinvent the wheel, yet we can improve on the wheel,” Mr. Colley concluded.