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BACKGROUND
At the request of the Government of Namibia, WIPO agreed to assist the former in the elaboration of a national intellectual property strategy (IPDP) in September, 2015, in the framework of WIPO technical assistance to Member States.
In this context, WIPO hired three International experts, Mr. Getachew Mengistie; Intellectual Property Law Consultant; Mrs. Naana Halm, Traditional Knowledge expert; Mr. John Asein , Intellectual Property Law consultant; and one National expert, Mr. Orthy Kaakunga, Legal expert, Namibia, to undertake the project of elaborating a national intellectual property (IP) strategy using the approved WIPO Methodology. The process would therefore comprise a thorough research and IP audit phase, followed by a national consultation phase, during which stakeholders would be invited to review, discuss and consolidate strategic orientations with regard to the use of the IP system to support the achievement of national development goals and recommend specific activities and projects for implementation in the short, medium and long term.
The Experts were engaged under ICS contracts, beginning September 10, 2015, to
March 31, 2016, and included participation in two field visits and multi stakeholder Workshops in Namibia, as provided in their Terms of Reference. The initial field mission, which took place from September 10 to 25, 2015, began with a desk research and a national multi stakeholder workshop aimed at sensitizing stakeholders on the various aspects of IP, its contribution to development and the importance of formulating a national IP policy and strategy. It concluded in an IP audit/needs assessment exercise, the outcome of which was a report (attached), the subject of this memorandum. Copies of the report and the experts’ TORs are attached for your information.
Following submission by the experts of the IP audit/needs assessment report and a national IPDP, as provided in their TORs, WIPO reviewed and shared t |