"The Dynamics of Innovation in Traditional Medicine in Ghana", by George O. Essegbey and Stephen Awuni (both of the Science and Technology Research Institute, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, Accra, Ghana) has just been published in issue 1/2015 of the WIPO Magazine. You can read it in full here. Of particular interest to this blogger was the following paragraph:
"Many practitioners, especially those operating in the informal economy, are not aware of the potential advantages of acquiring IP rights, such as trademarks, designs or patents. And for those aware of the IP system, the stringent requirements associated with obtaining IP protection are often beyond their reach. Much still remains to be done to raise awareness and understanding among practitioners about how to use IP rights to support their longer-term business interests. How to encourage innovation and strengthen entrepreneurship among traditional medicine practitioners in the informal economy is a crucial policy challenge in Ghana".Can the gap between traditional medicine and innovation as understood by the IP community ever be properly and efficiently bridged? That is the question ...
