Female entrepreneurs advised on copyright

Women entrepreneurs have demonstrated a commendable level of innovation and creativity, particularly in the areas of crafts and design, and, thus, must be accorded more support to protect and copyright their works, the Registrar General at the Rwanda Development Board (RDB), Louise Kanyonga, has said. She made the appeal, Friday, while addressing a symposium for women entrepreneurs and inventors in Kigali. The meeting was organised by RDB, in partnership with the World Intellectual Property Office (WIPO), a United Nations agency responsible for advocating for the protection of intellectual property throughout the world. “Most women are unaware of the intellectual property system and the protection that it can provide for their brands, technological inventions and designs,” Kanyonga told the meeting, which attracted more than 50 women. “If left unprotected, a good idea or invention may be lost to a large corporation that is in a better position to exploit it; thereby leaving the original inventor with no financial benefit,” she added. “Therefore, women who invent must be given opportunities to realise the critical role intellectual property rights play in turning ideas into business assets with real market value”. A counsellor at WIPO, Joyce Banya, observed that intellectual property was one of the core industries in the 21st Century and called on women to utilise it to compete on the global market and bridge the gender gap. “Policies to promote intellectual property rights must be followed with implementation so that they can benefit even the smallest inventor in the country. When it is developed, Rwandans can use their intellectual property as collateral,” Banya advised. A local fashion designer, Colombe Ituze Ndutiye, said that intellectual property rights is one step towards professionalising art and design in the country. “As an artiste, it makes me glad to know that my products have an institution willing to protect them and recognise them as my own; therefore, I do not have to fear that they will be copied, stolen or counterfeited,” she stated. The intellectual property law delegates the daily management of intellectual property rights to the Office of the Registrar General at RDB. The office is also responsible for registration, publishing, renewing and determining the authenticity of the rights.ivan.mugisha@newtimes.co.rw