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

Innovation & Intellectual Property
Institutional IP environments
Respondents were asked to indicate if there were government IP policies that
potentially inhibited their institution’s innovation and generation of value from
publicly funded research. It was found that 66% felt there were no policies that
were having an inhibiting effect, while 34% took the opposite position. Several
respondents pointed to non-IP obstacles, including the attitude of institutional
policy-makers towards researchers and the fact that, in some institutions, nonresearchers
seem to benefit more from research outputs than do researchers.
The study also asked respondents how institutional IP policies could be
improved so as to enhance the value gained from publicly funded research. As
Figure 15.10 shows, 29% of respondents were unsure of what should be done,
while 20% were content with the status quo. Others felt that IP policies should be
disseminated to researchers through academic bodies (8%); that protective legislation
for researchers’ IP rights should be introduced (5%); that there should be
IP policies developed at institutions that lacked them (5%); and that additional
incentives – e.g. increased research funding, reduction in time allocated to teaching,
and hiring of additional staff to assist in marking of class tests and tutorials –
should be introduced to boost the activity of researchers (5%).
Don't know
29%
What should be added to your institution’s IP
policies to enhance the reaping of values from publicly
funded research?
Adequate
Make them known to researchers and
disseminated throughout academic bodies
Protective legislation for researcher
IP rights
Develop IP policies
Additional incentives to the researcher
More open policy awareness
National policy must be clear
Researchers/innovators should benefit more
from their patents than the organisation
Recognise the rights and needs of all
stakeholders involved in the research
Provide guidelines
8%
5%
5%
5%
4%
3%
3%
3%
3%
20%
Provide workshops
3%
Figure 15.10: Institutional IP policies
0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35%
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