The Intellectual Property Promotion Scheme (IPPS) was launched yesterday by the Minister of Tertiary Education, Science, Research and Technology, Dr R. Jeetah, at the Mauritius Research Council (MRC), Ebène.
The IPPS aims at encouraging local individuals, enterprises, industry as well as research and development institutions to take advantage of the protection and incentives offered by the industrial property system in Mauritius. It will cover patents and industrial designs and will be operated jointly by the MRC and the Industrial Property Office (IPO). The latter is responsible for processing applications received for the protection of industrial property rights and to issue certificates accordingly.
Under the IPPS, local creators will benefit from a fifty percent grant on fees paid for the filing of a patent application or the registration of an industrial design application. Application forms can be collected at the MRC or the IPO.
In his speech for the occasion, Minister Jeetah commended the joint initiative of MRC and IPO in promoting innovation and protecting innovative ideas. It is another measure, he said, that will contribute towards making Mauritius a destination with a high quality education sector.
Patent offers protection to innovations which prove to be inventive, critical in solving technical problems and commercially exploitable. A patent offers an inventor the exclusive rights to his invention for 20 years provided that the invention is disclosed to the public. No third parties would be allowed to commercially exploit the device without the creator’s permission. Fees charged for granting of patents amount to Rs 5,000.
As for industrial design protection, it covers any shape, configuration, pattern or ornament newly created and which can be applied to an article through industrial process. Registration of industrial design provides its creator with evidence of ownership, exclusive rights to the designer and a legal protection from imitation. A first instalment of Rs 2,000 is paid at application and a further Rs 4,000 is paid upon registration of industrial designs. It is to be noted that at end of 2010, out of seven applications received for registration, only four industrial designs have been accepted for registration.
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