Development Of The East African Regional Policy For Intellectual Property

As per Article 43 of the Protocol on Common Market the EAC Partner States undertook to cooperate in the field of intellectual property rights in order to promote and protect creativity and innovation for economic, technological, social and cultural development in the Community. Intellectual Property Rights are important not only because the EAC partner states acceded to the TRIPs Agreement but because they offer possible means for simulating research, enable access to technology and promote the growth of enterprises. In this regard, EASTECO Annual Operational Plan 2017/18 included the development of the EAC Regional Policy for Intellectual Property, which intends to encourage technical innovation, and to promote the industrial and commercial use of technical inventions and innovations so as to contribute to the social, economic, industrial and technological development of the Community. A consultant was therefore hired in FY 2017-18 to develop the above-mentioned policy, through a consultative process.

The EAC Intellectual Property Policy aims to encourage technical innovation, and to promote the industrial and commercial use of technical inventions and innovations so as to contribute to the social, economic, industrial and technological development of the Community.

After a broad Stakeholders consultation to collect views and expectations of various sectors and actorsfrom EAC Partner States to draw down a comprehensive situational analysis and identify options of policy priorities, a regional meeting was held on 25th September 2018 to review and validate the draft Regional Policy for Intellectual Property.The draft policy includes policy objectives, strategies and key policy actions. The final draft policy was considered by the EASTECO Governing Board Committee on STI Policies and Regulation at its 2nd Meeting (in March 2019) and the EASTECO Governing Board adopted the draft for to approval by the Council of Ministers of EAC.

Participants at the Regional stakeholders meeting to validate the EAC Regional IP Draft Policy in Kampala, Uganda