On 26 April 2023 Lesotho commemorated World Intellectual Property Day. The day was established by the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) in 2000 and has since been celebrated annually by its members. The celebration is aimed at creating awareness of the importance of Intellectual Property (IP) and to encourage innovation and creativity in the field of IP.
This year’s theme was “Women and IP: Accelerating Innovation and Creativity. The theme was based on the “can do” attitude of female creators, inventors, and entrepreneurs worldwide and to celebrate female contributions to the IP sector. The day was hosted by the Registrar General at the Offices of the Ministry of Justice, Law and Parliamentary affairs in Maseru, Lesotho. Female Nationals of Lesotho were given advice on the protection of IP and a variety of free IP services were made available, including processing of trade mark applications using the newly implemented IPAS 4.0 platform.
The IPAS 4.0 platform consists of software that has been designed for the electronic administration of data and processing of documents associated with the registration of industrial property applications. By using the IPAS 4.0 platform, industrial property applications can be processed quicker and more effectively, resulting in improved client satisfaction and business growth for users.
This year’s celebration of World Intellectual Property Day also included a virtual workshop for female entrepreneurs, which focussed on creating awareness of the importance of intellectual property and how it can be used to add value to goods and services being offered, both locally and globally.
Source : WORLD INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY DAY TO BE COMMEMORATED (informativenews.co.ls)
