Geographical Indication (GI) options for Ethiopian Coffee and Ghanaian Cocoa

Innovation & Intellectual Property
The data and information gathered indicate that research in Egypt includes
different types of clean energy, ranging from solar and wind energy to biofuels
(obtained from different sources such as jatropha and jojoba plantations, agricultural
waste, cooking oil and recently also algae). Notably, solar and wind energy
receive substantial government funding for research, specifically from the state’s
New and Renewable Energy Authority (NREA, 2011).
In general, we found the gathering of data and information on biofuels in Egypt
to be a difficult task due to the scarcity of information, the lack of governing rules,
the overlap between related public entities and the lack of coordination among
different stakeholders. This in itself was a significant finding of this research, as
information availability is central to the logic of patent systems as systems which
balance the interests of patent-holders with the interests of stakeholders needing
access to the patent information for purposes of experimentation and followon
innovation (see Chapter 10 of this volume, which examines failure, by patent
offices in much of Africa, to ensure sufficient public access to patent filings).
Statistics from the Egyptian Patent Office show that the process from the filing
date of an application to the approval of a patent takes on average three years and
10 months. Our analysis of the Egyptian Patent Office procedures shows the need
to establish an advanced database to make it easier to search for accepted applications
and other relevant patent information. Patent information consists of the
text of granted patents and published patent applications, including the abstract,
specifications, drawings and claims. The information becomes accessible through
its publication and the availability of the patent documents at the Patent Office. At
the moment, however, it can be very difficult to obtain reliable information about
the geographical coverage and status of patents in Egypt. There is also a noted
delay in issuing the Patent Gazette. The accessibility of information needs to be
improved, especially since the Egyptian Patent Office is now, as of 1 April 2013,
one of the international searching and preliminary examining authorities under
the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) and is currently accepting patent applications
from all over the world.
4. Stakeholder activities and perceptions
The final stage in the research consisted of field interviews with stakeholders
and policy-makers from three categories: (1) scientists and academics, (2) public
sector representatives and (3) private sector project managers. In general, it was
found from the interviews that, while most stakeholders acknowledge the importance
of biofuels in Egypt, scientific exploration and production remain limited
in this area.
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