The Kenya Industrial Research and Development Institute (KIRDI) and the Rift Valley Institute of Business Studies (RVIBS) have launched a campaign to train Kenyan entrepreneurs on Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) to protect their innovations.
So far, 96 students from various local universities have been trained on the subject and its significance to their businesses and this will be a continuous training for young innovators.
The students who are all Internet of Things (IOT) and Robotics students at RVIBS are beneficiaries of the Sh 6.5 billion (Us dollars 50 million) World Bank Funded SKIES (Strengthening Kenya’s Innovation Ecosystem) scholarship program.
SKIES, which is being implemented by the Ministry of Investments, Trade and Industry through the State Department for Industry aims to enhance the innovation ecosystem infrastructure by building the capacity of 13 Kenyan intermediaries such as incubators, accelerators, and technology boot camp providers.
Through the Kenya Industrial and Entrepreneurship Project (KIEP) they are supporting these intermediaries who include RVIBS, 8 universities and 500 start-ups in developing and deepening their operational strengths and individual business models, ensuring operational sustainability, expansion and improved quality of services provided.
According to a senior research scientist at KIRDI attached to the Directorate of Technology Transfer and Extension Services Mr Winstone Nyaguti, some students preferred to sell their innovations to institutions or researchers at lower rates and return to the drawing board to develop others instead of moving around to have them patented.
Mr Nyaguti said the training on Intellectual Property Rights (IP) is designed to empower the students with the knowledge that they need to protect their IP rights and transform nascent business ideas into commercial businesses.
He observed that while various state agencies were initiating and implementing appropriate policies to facilitate increased protection and utilization of Intellectual Property, research shows entrepreneurs are least aware of its contribution to their businesses.
“This is the gap we are trying to fill through this initiative,” he said during a training session at RVIBS main campus in Nakuru.
Articles 11 and 40 of the Constitution places an obligation on the Government to support, promote and protect the intellectual property rights of the people of Kenya. Intellectual property is an internationally agreed system of incentives to support creators and innovators to release products useful for improved human experience.
There are three main types of protection for innovation recognized under the Kenyan legal system: patents (mostly for original ideas in the scientific, medical, health and technology fields), copyrights (for original artistic expression like paintings, photos, books and songs), and trademarks (mostly for graphics, logos, shapes, signs, sounds and even smells that distinguish products).
The legislation further identifies industrial designs and utility models as IP.
The Constitution and laws of Kenya extend this protective obligation to both corporates and individuals based or domiciled in Kenya.
The official disclosed that they had captured 35 innovations from the cohort at RVIBS that will find space in IP reward systems such as patents, utility models and trademarks. He noted that patenting requires extensive advocacy, capacity building and awareness.
“There are a lot of innovations and ideas from this group particularly in the field of Information, Communication Technology that need to be patented,” he added.
Mr Nyaguti further observed another significant proportion of innovative students do not engage themselves in actualization of their ideas out of fear that their creations would be stolen by others.
“There is a need to sensitize young innovators on protection of their creative work. Apart from being aware of intellectual property rights, potential innovators should know the bodies that deal with property rights so that they can confirm the novelty of their ideas and the process of having those approved patented,” he noted.
Mr Nyaguti admitted that Technical Vocational Education Training Institutes (TVET), university and college students normally showcased noble innovations during various exhibitions countrywide, but faulted them for disclosing more about the discoveries before they were patented.
“It is encouraging to witness hard work and creativity of the students across the County who have come up with innovative products including a variety of soft wares and mobile applications that have the potential to drive the Kenya Vision 2030,” he added.
He disclosed that KIRDI and RVIBS were jointly exploring ways of encouraging innovation and the need for inventors to acquire intellectual property rights for their creations.
The researcher called on the Kenya Industrial Property Institute (KIPI) and other relevant government bodies including enforcement agencies and institutions of higher learning to collaborate and take the same knowledge to the youth and protect their intellectual property.
“If all parties play their role, Kenya’s ranking will improve in the Intellectual Rights Global Index. More crucially, our youth will reap maximum dividends from their intellectual investments and will be even more motivated to re-invest in their minds,” he pointed out.
Mr Nyaguti said students keen on innovations and entrepreneurs should seek patents before disclosing features of their innovations to the public in order to safeguard them against violation.
He said the applicants would enjoy monopoly over the production and marketing of the patented products once their application is approved.
He added that to own intellectual property rights; one must have registered with relevant institutions locally or where Kenya is a member, in order to qualify for protection.
Kenya Industrial Property Institute (KIPI) is mandated to administer industrial property rights and provide information to the public. Others include Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Service, World Intellectual Property Organization and the African Regional Intellectual Property Organization.
Software Developer and Trainer at RVIBS Mr John Waita noted that the creativity and innovativeness of brilliant young Kenyans needed to be legally secured from imminent theft as there were numerous innovations being developed by the youth who end up being edged out at the commercialization phase of their ingenious mental outputs.
“As a country, we are slowly moving from an agricultural dominant economy to a knowledge-based economy. Value and wealth will soon no longer be determined by acreage of land or heads of cattle owned but by mental assets possessed. Our youths cannot mount a formidable defense of their intellectual property from a position of misconception,” added Mr Waita.
He said there were numerous online opportunities which innovative youth could leverage on to be self-employed.
According to Mr Waita, innovations are catalysts to economic growth and therefore patenting the Innovations will offer more effective tools for knowledge sharing and transfer of technology.
Barasa Ivy, one of the beneficiaries of the training, indicated that she and her colleagues who have designed an e-platform to help those seeking scholarships, jobs and industrial attachments were now fully aware of the procedures to follow to patent their invention.
The App christened Career Support Platform comes with three modules namely administrator, career scholarship and Industry liaison. It also links industries with potential employees as it has a portal where job seekers can upload their work experience and curriculum vitae.
It provides a comprehensive platform for viewing job postings, managing one’s professional profile, and researching companies.
Ivy explained that with customizable search tools, job alerts, and company information, one will have all the details they need to apply and connect with the right contacts. The platform offers relevant, updated jobs based on one’s profile and even notifies a candidate on whether or not the position may have been filled by another applicant.
Wanja Muthami, one of the three innovators of an Internet of Things (IoT) technology that ensures that watering, temperature, lighting, humidity, air quality and soil moisture in a farm are perfect for plants to thrive also plans to rally her colleagues to patent the invention.
Ms Muthami explains that the prototype they have developed can help farmers in automating irrigation systems and tracking soil moisture content.
“Basically, we have configured the system to avoid over-watering or under-watering of crops. The system is also equipped with a rain sensor designed to switch off water pumps whenever it is raining. This is to avoid wastage and bolster conservation of water which is gradually becoming a very scarce resource,” she elaborates.
Ms Muthami is confident that the prototype they have developed has proved that it automatically controls conditions in a green house and enables a farmer to remotely monitor the situation as when temperatures soar it triggers ventilation systems to cool the facilities.
“Our initial trials have confirmed that it also checks air quality and guarantees appropriate aeration. When the temperatures plummet below favourable levels, it triggers a heating system automatically. If the green house is either too hot or too cold the farmer is notified,” the young innovator elaborates.
Ms Muthami says the system enables farmers to control a greenhouse with the smart-phone through a user-friendly app which is easy to understand and operate. More so, farmers can log into their accounts and control the greenhouse from there or through SMS.
The farmer can choose to control the farm automatically, where the farm regulates itself according to the optimum conditions of the crops being grown.
Notifications will be sent to the farmer through the app or SMS. On the other hand, it can be controlled manually where, for example, the farmer can set the temperature to 24 degrees or the soil moisture to a particular value.
The system regulates humidity, temperature, soil moisture, air flow, light and pH.
Ms Muthami notes that various factors impact the environment inside a greenhouse, with heat, humidity, light levels, and ventilation among the main ones. The right combination, she adds, helps maximize the yields. For instance, the more efficient the air circulation, the more productive the plants will be.
“Fine-tuning them manually is close to impossible. Yet, using IoT in a greenhouse environment and implementing the system properly can assist in automating and optimizing these factors for the ideal environmental conditions,” she adds.
Additionally, the innovator indicates that the system comes with a package that enables farmers to get smart recommendations on their farm through analysis of the data provided. This she says will boost the quality of produce as the conditions of the farm will be optimized.
One positive aspect about the innovation is that, it factors in the fact that farmers are extremely busy people and do not want complicated lives.
“The farmer can control the greenhouse easily with his or her smart-phone, through a user-friendly app, which is easy to understand and operate,” Ms Muthami says.
“I believe that farming in Kenya can reach its peak by embracing modern technology, where information and data analysis is readily available and accessible by anyone from anywhere. Local farmers rely too much on nature which is not as effective,” says the tech-savvy innovator.
Ms Muthami says the innovation is intended to make farming attractive to the youth, make the venture less labour intensive and less costly and conserve wastage of resources such as water and soil.
By Jane Ngugi and Dennis Rasto
