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

Innovation & Intellectual Property
Intellectual Property Office, 2009). South Korea currently provides the fastest
examination period in the world for green technology: examinations can be completed
in less than one month. In 2011, the Canadian Intellectual Property Office
(CIPO) amended its patent rules to expedite the examination of patent applications
related to green technologies (CIPO, 2011).
Early evidence suggests that, so far, only a small percentage of eligible patent
applicants in the area of green technology make use of the opportunities for
accelerated examination under the aforementioned programmes (Dechezleprêtre,
2013). However, in certain circumstances fast-tracking could still help increase
the number of green technology patents in Egypt, e.g. if third-party investment is
urgently needed, or in order to secure commercial partnerships.
Patent database
Based on the difficulty we faced in accessing reliable patent information for this
research, we are of the view that the Egyptian Patent Office should move forward
quickly on its plan for an advanced patent database, as a means to ensure wide
public dissemination of patent-related information, including clean energy technology
information.
Of relevance is the work of the World Intellectual Property Organisation
(WIPO) on patent databases. The WIPO Patent Information Service (WPIS) facilitates
access to technical information within patent documents (WIPO, 2012),
and WIPO has even set up a special patent database related to biofuels, the IPC
Green Inventory, which was developed by the International Patent Classification
(IPC) committee of experts in order to facilitate searches for patent information
relating to environmentally sound technologies (ESTs) as listed by the UNFCCC.
The inventory attempts to collect ESTs in one place to facilitate the search for
this type of technology innovation (WIPO, 2012), and allows users to search and
display all international patent applications available through PATENTSCOPE
(a WIPO database that aggregates PCT patent data from developed and developing
countries).
A “patent commons”
Another possible approach would be an “open source” approach whereby there
is free sharing of knowledge – within a “patent commons” – so as to maximise
the collaborative elements of innovation. The Eco-Patent Commons is an interesting
initiative of this sort. In January 2008, a number of large multinational
companies, including IBM, Nokia, Sony and Pitney Bowes, in cooperation with
the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), established
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