A WIPO media release has announced that the organisation's Director General Francis Gurry ended his two-day official visit to Algeria yesterday. While there he met with Government Ministers to discuss the role of intellectual property in stimulating innovation and development and ways to strengthen cooperation between WIPO and Algeria. According to WIPO,
"Bilateral discussions focused on how Algeria can best exploit the IP system for economic and cultural development, as well as ways in which WIPO can support national efforts to strengthen the country’s IP capacity"This author recalls Algeria's disappointment, following the euphoria of independence, when it first became apparent that the possession of a full set of French patent records was not a short-cut to industrial success and innovative competence. Last year Afro Leo reported on the finding that much of Algeria's laboratory equipment was broken or had never even been assembled for use, through neglect or lack of know-how. Whatever support WIPO and others can give to developing countries so as to avoid these mishaps will surely be welcome.
