School of Law

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Browsing School of Law by Author "Mikinyango, Asha"

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    Is The Triple Helix Approach to Commercialization of IP the Panacea For Africa?
    (Daystar University, School of Law, 2022) Wekesa, Moni ; Mikinyango, Asha
    Commercialization of IP depends on creations and inventions. These two invariably result from research and development (R & D). Africa spends less than 1% of her GDP on R & D activities. Additionally, there is very little coordination between various agencies dealing with IP in African countries. This is compounded by other factors such as low levels of IP awareness, an archaic academic culture at universities, lack of coordination in the use of research facilities, and lack of entrepreneurial skills amongst academics. Despite legislation to protect indigenous knowledge, very little comes out of it. Attempts by Ghana to commercialize her folklore has not borne fruits. The numerous institutions touching on R & D and IP in Morocco have not placed that country ahead of the others in matters of IP. South Africa, which has the highest expenditure on R & D at 0.8% if GDP does not produce as many patents as a single institution in USA. Consequently, the University of California registers more patents per year than the continent of Africa. The approach used by most institutions in Africa is one in which an institution attempts to interest industry. The diverse cultures operating between the two institutions make cooperation rather difficult. Research institutions come up with inventions that the industry does not need, or research institutions are not able to align their research agenda with the needs of industry. Neither is able to meet the needs of the other. The ‘triple helix’ approach proposes a model in which government is the main driver bringing research institutions and industry together. This model has been used with a lot of success in Victoria, Australia. This paper seeks to interrogate how the ‘triple helix’ model can be adapted to answer the question of improved commercialization of IP in Africa.
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    Need For Protocols for Sharing of and access to Research Facilities in Kenya
    (Daystar University, School of Law, 2022) Wekesa, Moni ; Mikinyango, Asha
    Research institutions in the country acquire their facilities and equipment at different times. Due to limited budgetary allocation of less than 1% to research and development, an institution may have to wait for five or more years to get funds to renew their facilities. This is a global reality. This reality calls in the need for sharing of and access to available facilities. Kenya has two major international laboratories namely; the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) and the International Center for Insect Physiology and Ecology (ICIPE) that have state of the art research centres such as KEMRI, KEFRI, Kenya Marine Fisheries Research Institute and Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organisation (KALRO) also have well equipped laboratories and experimental sites. Universities also have research facilities, most of which are suitable for basic research. These research institutions do not ‘talk’ to each other. There is no national inventory of the research facilities held by each institution. Collaboration and cooperation in research is done on an ad hoc basis, i.e. without clear memoranda of understanding. Several challenges are likely to arise where there is no agreement on the use of facilities. First and foremost is that deserving researchers would be unfairly denied access to much needed facilities. Secondly, where inventions are made, the question of ownership of intellectual property (IP) can lead to prolonged litigation. Thirdly, where equipment like computers and motor vehicles are bought using research grants, ownership of the equipment at the end of the project can be a source of conflict. Fourthly, issues of wear and tear with respect to replacement of consumables and accidental breakages ought to be determined before access is granted. Fifthly, is the question of duplication of resources. Sixthly, some equipment could become obsolete before they are maximally used. This paper seeks to analyse the challenges around ‘sharing of and access to’ research facilities and make recommendations for watertight protocols as a solution to the challenges.