Raising awareness on Intellectual Property |03 July 2019

Minister Loustau-Lalanne addressing guests and delegates at the opening of the seminar yesterday

A high-level delegation from the African Regional Intellectual Property Organisation (Aripo) and the World Intellectual Property Organisation (Wipo) organised a consultation and national seminar on Intellectual property (IP) yesterday at the Avani Resort.

The seminar was attended by the director general of Aripo, Fernando dos Santos and economists coming from various departments and organisations.

The aim of this visit is to raise awareness on IP, share Wipo and Aripo mandates on IP, share Wipo’s technical cooperation tools for development, present findings of the 2017 review of the Implementation of Intellectual Property Development Plan, consult with various IP stakeholders in how best to implement IP laws and to establish a status quo of intellectual property in Seychelles and the way forward.

During the opening of the seminar, the Minister for Finance, Trade, Investment and Economic Planning, Maurice Loustau-Lalanne, spoke about the endeavours made by Seychelles in this domain. “In 2000, Seychelles officially became a member of Wipo. Following which, in 2010, a National Intellectual Property Development Plan (IPDP) was developed, and marked for us a journey to create a better regime for intellectual property in Seychelles. And since then we have become a member of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) that has brought with it the need for us to amend our IP legislation to modernise and bring it to international best practice,” the minister said.

Seychelles currently has an Industrial Property Act 2014, Copyright Act 2014, and regulations dedicated to border measures for the protection of IP rights under the Customs Management Regulations 2014, a National Institute for Science, Technology and Innovation Act 2014, which came into effect in 2016 and a Creative Industries and National Events Agency Act 2016. These legal instruments have significantly reformed our IP regime and infrastructure since the 2010 IPDP.

“Moreover, under the framework of these legislations, together with Seychelles’ efforts to create associations and relevant bodies, for instance, the Seychelles Authors and Composers Society (Sacs) which was appointed as the body responsible for promoting rights of copyright owners is collecting and redistributing royalties so that those owners receive a return for the use of their creations. In July 2017, a National IP Committee was established, which comprises numerous stakeholders from the public and private sector, and serves as a forum for all discussions on or relating to IP.”

He also pointed out that the seminar is aimed at moving us forward, by ensuring that sensitisation is done to all relevant stakeholders on the rights of creators and innovators and of the opportunities that await them.

“We all have a responsibility to ensure that we do not infringe each other's rights by being conscious of our obligations towards those rights,” said Minister Loustau-Lalanne.