Spotlight on the economic importance of SMEs |27 April 2021

Ms Mangroo (left) and Ms Pierre during the interview yesterday (Photo: Joena Meme)

World Intellectual Property Day 2021

Intellectual property refers to creations of the mind, such as inventions, literary and artistic works, designs and symbols, names and images used in commerce.

Every April 26, the world marks Intellectual Property (IP) Day, a time to remind all who have an idea, invention, product or even a name to register their assets.

By registering their intellectual property, their work, brand or trademark is protected as they have ownership.

Intellectual property rights are ordinarily grouped in two areas, namely copyrights and related rights and industrial property rights.

Industrial property ranges from patents for inventions, layout-designs of integrated circuits, to industrial designs, trademarks, service marks and geographical indications, while copyrights typically arise out of literary and artistic rights. These include music, lyrics, choreography, poetry, scripts, screenplays, novels, drawings and paintings among others.

For this year, the World Intellectual Property Organisation (Wipo) confirmed that the focus of the World Intellectual Property Day – which was yesterday – will be on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and taking ideas to market.

With this theme, the Wipo is hoping to shine a light on the economic importance of SMEs and their critical role in driving economic recovery and job creation.

This is especially important as economies across the globe struggle with the economic fall-out of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Due to restrictions based on the ongoing pandemic, the annual activities organised locally will be low key.

However, the department of Trade within the Ministry of Finance, Economic Planning and Trade and the Office of the Registrar General is taking the opportunity to educate and create awareness about the importance of registering IP.

In a press conference yesterday at the Liberty House in Victoria, principal secretary for Trade Cillia Mangroo and Registrar General Wendy Pierre talked on the importance and benefits of IP, especially in the current situation and potential developments in the markets.

One of the main activities to mark this year’s World Intellectual Property Day is a virtual workshop in May to sensitise enterprises on the benefits of IP and the obligations that come with it.

The event will be jointly hosted by the trade department along with the Registrar General’s Office in collaboration with the embassy of the United States.

In her message for this year’s World IP Day, PS Mangroo noted that the ever-changing business environment fuels new inventions and ways of trading, bringing about innovative products and services to satisfy consumer preferences.

Protecting these inventions, she said, opens doors for trade beyond their national borders and thus underlines the importance of using IP for businesses, especially small and medium enterprises.

She added that Seychelles, being a small economy, the use of IP is relevant, if not more so, for not only protecting creativity but also as a means for wealth creation.

The message further added that the Covid-19 pandemic has brought about new ways of doing business in order to get goods and services to the clients, which in turn has increased the range of products and services available to the public.

“We encourage our small and medium enterprises to make use of the different tools that are available under the IP regime and protect their rights while knowing their obligations,” she added.

Seychelles is a member of the Wipo since 2000 and this guarantees the country's citizens and companies the right to benefit from worldwide protection of the intellectual property rights obtained in their home country if they decide to have them registered with Wipo.

IP rights than can be registered in Seychelles include trademarks which are the most common intellectual property rights registered in Seychelles, patents which are usually registered by inventors of innovative technologies, copyrights which are attributed to those who create literary works and songs, while industrial designs are also recognised.

The main laws governing IP in Seychelles include the Industrial Property Act of 2014 which replaces the Patent Act and the Trades Mark Decree, the Copyright Act of 2014 which is a completion of the first law with the same name issued in 1984, the Companies Law and the International Business Companies Act which have been updated with elements related to the protection of intellectual property, the Consumer Protection Law, the Fair Competition Law and the Seychelles Investment Act, while the Business Tax Law and the Penal Code also contain provisions related to the protection of intellectual property rights.

Roland Duval