Global insights into Intellectual Property Right challenges for South Africa
In 2022 the South Africa National Intellectual Property Management Office (NIPMO) conducted a review of its Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) from Publicly Financed Research and Development Act (IPR Act) to strengthen the enabling policy environment of the national innovation ecosystem. IPR is a key tool to support innovation, promote fair competition, protect creativity, and encourage economic development within South Africa.
Innovation governance knowledge exchange
Innovate UK’s Global Alliance Africa project collaborated with NIPMO and the World Bank Group to deliver a series of international knowledge sharing workshops in August 2022 between the UK, South Africa and selected countries: Brazil, Canada and Singapore. For NIPMO, the workshops allowed them to establish international benchmarking, a core requirement for policy amendments in South Africa.
To change the IPR legislation the selected countries must have a similar type of structure in place to do benchmarking.
– Jetane Charsley, Head of NIPMO
As such, the participating countries were selected to offer not only geographic representation but also relevant IPR contexts at different stages of development.
The collaboration with NIPMO formed part of the Global Alliance Africa Innovation Governance Knowledge Exchange (IGKE) intervention, which brings together key African and global stakeholders to share knowledge and develop new partnerships.
For Innovate UK, the purpose of the collaboration with NIPMO was to broker international collaborations that positively impact innovation development at a policy level in South Africa.
Participants at the workshops included representatives from Saint Andrews University (UK), Universidad Federal de Minas Gerais (UFGM, Brazil), National Research Council (NRC, Canada), Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR, Singapore), Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MCTI, Brazil) and the Intellectual Property and Technology Transfer Network of Bahia (RePITTec, Brazil). Discussions focused around three core themes:
- IP Ownership – Fostering collaboration with the private sector
- Commercialisation of IP – Strategies and tools to promote IP creation and commercialisation
- Enforcement, Incentives and Open Source – for publicly financed R&D and institutional IP ownership
An independent benchmarking report detailing specific learning and insights was produced for NIPMO:
It was fantastic to have someone facilitate and steer the discussions in a direction that pulls out the real substance of things and takes us in a direction that helps to challenge us.
– Jetane Charsley, Head of NIPMO
Project impact and developments
The three workshops facilitated cross-learning and sharing of international best practice to support, where appropriate, the ongoing process of revising the South Africa’s IPR Act.
It was inspiring to see world class leaders in the intellectual property field come together to discuss best practice and lessons learned from their country perspectives.
– Chiara Bassetti, Global Alliance Africa Senior Project Manager
As a forum for knowledge exchange, the workshops explored how global best practice could be applied within the South African context. A key area of learning that emerged in this respect is the gap between what the legislation says in theory and how it is applied in practice. “When you read the legislation and when you practically do it, it’s two different things,” explains Jetane Charsley, “and we can only get that global understanding by sitting round the table with colleagues.” These discussions also allowed participants to delve deeper into how each of the respective legislative frameworks addressed particular challenges within each country, as well as responding to specific national constraints.
As well as exploring potential solutions to specific challenges within IPR legislation, the dialogues also highlighted that all countries face similar challenges and that every solution has benefits and drawbacks. “No one has a perfect answer for some of the issues that we’re trying to resolve,” says Jetane Charsley, “but some of the ideas that were proposed were fantastic and definitely something that we can consider here.” The learning generated through the workshops – and the resulting report – has been consolidated within the proposed amendments to existing IPR Act in South Africa.
Insights and learning
Following the review process, proposals for amended IPR Act were submitted to the South African Department of Science and Innovation Executive Committee (DSI Exco) towards the end of 2022, as a first step in the legislative process before being submitted to Parliament and opened for public hearings. The full process is expected to take several years to complete. The benchmarking report produced as part of this collaborative initiative has served – and will continue to serve – as key supporting evidence through the various phases of the process.
The benchmarking report has also been a key resource for the team at NIPMO more broadly. “The report has become a reference document for us to double check or soundboard on what the other countries have done whenever a new issue emerges for us here,” explains Jetane Charsley. In the fast-moving world of IPR regulations, the benchmarking report provides a solid evidence base as NIPMO continues to respond to newly emerging IPR issues in real-time while the legislative process continues behind the scenes.
Overall, the process had been a success for all parties involved.
The experience and insights shared during the three days of workshops were invaluable and the enthusiasm and engagement during the open discussion sessions were inspiring not only for NIPMO but for everyone in the room. We all learned from the process and – by following a collaborative approach – came out stronger as a result.
– Chiara Bassetti, Global Alliance Africa Senior Project Manager
The new connections have also led to ongoing professional relationships between NIPMO and the international IPR experts brought together for the dialogues: “The Global Alliance Africa team went beyond what was expected in linking us up with new contacts. To work with a team like that was phenomenal” says Jetane Charsley.
The pivotal role played by international experts, with an independent benchmarking report contributing to a national legislation critical to South Africa’s innovation ecosystem underscores the significance of global innovation alliances. Innovate UK remains committed to fostering such collaborations, which serve to fortify Research and Innovation (R&I) ties between the UK and Africa.
– Dr Nee-Joo Teh, Head of Global Alliance at Innovate UK Business Connect
About Innovate UK Global Alliance Africa
Global Alliance Africa is a six-year project funded by UK International Development through Innovate UK (GCRF) and the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO).
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