Peru: promoting IPRs to citizens

Two sets of news caught my attention from the Peruvian IPO (INDECOPI)’s newsroom. Both of them in a way incentive and promote IP. This endorsement is needed in countries such as Peru and is a good example to follow by other countries. Measuring the strength of IP protection cannot and should not be only based on laws as written but the enforcement and government effectiveness play crucial roles. Added to this, the role of the society is a huge factor, the culture of the society, meaning if actually citizens have confidence in and abide by the rules.

At the moment I am supervising a master student who is writing a dissertation on the film industry in Nigeria (NOLYWOOD) showing an appalling illegal trade in pirated DVDs and the like. One of the major problems that can be seen is the lack of public IP awareness. Certainly, it is essential to raise IP mindfulness citizens.

The two news go as follow:

1. “Indecopi rewards journalists … winners of the National Journalism Contest on Intellectual Property”. This initiative was a join initiative led by Indecopi together with the American Chamber of Commerce of Peru (AmCham - Peru) and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). The awards were given to journalists whose works included national rural producers’ entrepreneurs and innovators who use IP tools as an incentive for economic development. Another winner story tells us the experience of a Peruvian designer who conquer national and international markets with its recognized mark. Other excellent stories worth of prizes were: a TV report: What is biopiracy? and a Radio broadcast: Development of Peruvian women in the field of invention and patents.
2. “Indecopi presents online radio program aimed at promoting the use of the patent system in the country”. The radio program named “Patents NET” airs every Thursday at 4:30 pm: either by the online signal Radio Indecopi OR via Facebook at www.facebook.com/cnapi.pecon. The program is aimed to promote the use of the patent system in the country bringing to citizens, the scope, benefits and experiences related to the use of the patent system. The program is run by specialists broadcasting issues related to the patents, industrial designs, and certificates of breeders of new plant varieties, among others. The program also includes interviews with local inventors and guests specialists in the field of science, innovation and research. Listeners can interact with questions and comments live.