Microsoft 4Afrika has transferred full ownership and management of its IP Hub to the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), after its pilot project.
The online Intellectual Property Hub (IP Hub) project was started by Microsoft Corporation in 2014 to create and encourage an intellectual property culture in Africa. The latest move will help further expansion of its reach to more African countries in an effort to enable more cross-border project.
“We developed the IP Hub with the promise to pilot it and then hand it over to local governments and authorities. This is therefore an exciting milestone for us, especially as we commemorate the 17th annual World IP Day.” Louis Otieno, corporate affairs director at Microsoft 4Afrika said, Microsoft Care GH reports.
The Hub seeks to educate innovators about all aspects of IP, ins and outs of copyright, trademarks, patents and general IP protection. More Africans will now have access to an awareness resource hosted and promoted by COMESA which promotes intra-African trade.
The IP Hub offers independent software vendors and developers the necessary skills and tools to develop, protect and monetize their innovations. The online portal pilot began in Kenya and was scheduled to be replicated in other parts of Africa.
4Afrika continues to collaborate with IP authorities in COMESA member states to automate their IP registration processes.
Microsoft and COMESA hope to encourage more people to use cloud technology, develop their own IP and ultimately participate in trade and e-commerce across borders.
