Research and innovation services hub and a web 3.0 company, Heritors Labs Limited, in collaboration with its partners RISA Fund, the Ministry of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation (MESTI) and the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) organised a one-day workshop on patent drafting and filing skills for scientists, researchers and innovators.

The one-day event, which was held on December 19 at the CSIR Head Office in Accra, was on the theme “Innovate, Protect, Prosper: Navigating the Patent Landscape”.

The workshop aligned with the Heritor’s commitment to empower researchers and innovators to maximize value for their inventions and innovations by acquiring the requisite patents and intellectual property rights to cover their creative works.

Funded and supported by the Research and Innovation Systems for Africa (RISA) Fund, the Foreign Commonwealth Development Office (FCDO) and UKAID, the workshop was an ideal platform for various state standards enforcement agencies, business owners and innovators to share ideas on a draft charter that will serve as the framework for developing research products.

Heritors Labs is an awardee of the RISA Fund, a multi-country project funded by the UK through the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) to support research and innovation systems strengthening in Africa.

In line with the goal of the Fund, the company has been tasked to boost the commercialization of research and innovation in Ghana through deepening access to research and innovation programmes and building a robust infrastructure for the communication, advocacy and marketing of research and innovation outcomes.
The grant has resulted in the design of programmes to facilitate the inclusion of marginalized and excluded segments in the research and innovation value chain.

The Director of Intellectual Property at the CSIR, Dr. John Kwesi Ocran, in his welcome remarks, commended Heritors Labs for organizing the training workshop to equip scientists, IP focal persons and persons in marketing and research commercialization on how to create value out of their innovations.

He admitted that several people within the CSIR spend their working lives engaging in creative and innovative pursuits but they are unable to translate their outputs into commercial outcomes due to one issue or another and was therefore convinced that researchers and creative could prosper once they are able to innovate, protect their innovations and have them monetized appropriately.

Dr. Ocran described the training workshop as an enriching learning experience and encouraged participants to gain new knowledge around patents whilst forging linkages and networks for collective development and professional growth.
On his part, General Manager of Heritors Labs Limited, Mr. Emmanuel Prince Amartey, reiterated the impactful relationship between the company and its strategic partners in the public sector including CSIR and MESTI.

In buttressing earlier assertions, he said patents are important to the growth of national research institutions and innovators. Despite its significance, Mr. Amartey noted that researchers and innovators have yet to tap the value that patents bring to their works like they do with copyright.

The situation, according to him, required researchers and innovators to work hand in hand with Heritors Labs to build consciousness and better equip institutions to patent their innovation and research outcomes.

“The people in CSIR are very critical to the development of Ghana and that is why we deem it a great privilege to work with CSIR all the time and whenever we get the opportunity we don't hesitate at all to collaborate,” he further noted.

Mr. Amartey was hopeful that workshop would empower the CSIR to become a rich institution when they are able to register more patents for their innovations that companies could pay to consume.

Director of Administration at the CSIR, Mrs. Genevieve Yankey, who chaired the workshop, disclosed that the Council launched its new Intellectual Property Policy in November last year to ensure that researchers and innovators benefit from their works.

One key element in the policy, she said, was the allocation of about 65percent of net profits on every patented innovation to the specified researchers and innovators as a way of rewarding their efforts and creativity.

To ensure that, she encouraged participants to take advantage of the patent training workshop and apply the newly acquired knowledge in their respective institutions in the broader interest of the CSIR.

Deputy Director-General of the CSIR, Prof. Marian Quain, stated in her closing remarks that the training workshop was timely and relevant to actors in the research and innovation landscape.

She expressed worry about instances where researchers and innovators rush to publish their works thereby shooting themselves in the foot when it comes to patenting and securing intellectual property rights for their creativity and inventions.

Professor Quain therefore proposed further engagements between Heritors Labs and CSIR’s IP Office to come up with an extended duration for a more practical training that will cover every aspect of intellectual property.