Mashoto Kijakazi Obed
National Institute for Medical Research.
East Afr Health Res J. 2022;6(2):180-188. doi: 10.24248/eahrj.v6i2.697. Epub 2022 Nov 30.
Intellectual Property (IP) management is a fundamental element in putting intellectual property to work for the public good. This study aimed at assessing the perception of the research community on intellectual Property Management (IPM) capacity in universities of health and allied sciences, and health research institutions in Tanzania.
A total of 148 respondents which included scientists, researchers and postgraduate students from 18 institutions in Tanzania returned the filled in self-administered online questionnaire (59.4% response rate).
Most respondents (76.5%) were of the view that social and economic development are the priorities of their institutions but not intellectual property (IP) commercialisation as only a few (18%) reported that their institutions have arrangement with local industries and 22% said that their institutions have functioning intellectual Property Management Office (IPMO). About 30% of the respondents reported that IP policies exist in their institutions. In most cases, respondents were of the view that the need for effective management of IP (86.7%) triggered the institution's decision to have IP policy. Among the respondents who stated that their institutions have IP policy, slightly over one third to a half acknowledged that their institutions' IP policies intend to regulate mechanisms for benefit sharing and IP ownership.Among those who reported that their institutions had IP policies, only 12.8% indicated that the policies were being implemented. Majority of respondents (80.4%) knew the existence of employment contracts but, only 28.4% signed the contract and 12.8% were well informed that they had been employed to invent. Over 20% of respondents said that their institutions had the capacity to exploit and manage IP and only a quarter of respondents reported to have capacity for IP management. Less than 40% of respondents admitted that their institutions had entrepreneurship capacity and 30% affirmed that their institutions were capable of establishing IPMO.
Opinions of the respondents indicate that universities and health research institutions in Tanzania have inadequate capacity for IPM due to inadequate or lack of frameworks, mechanisms, structures and resources for protection of generated IP. Technical and financial support are needed to strengthen capacity for IPM in universities and health research institutions in Tanzania.
知识产权管理是使知识产权服务于公共利益的一项基本要素。本研究旨在评估研究群体对坦桑尼亚健康与联合科学大学以及健康研究机构的知识产权管理（IPM）能力的认知。
来自坦桑尼亚18个机构的148名受访者（包括科学家、研究人员和研究生）返还了填写完整的自填式在线问卷（回复率为59.4%）。
大多数受访者（76.5%）认为社会和经济发展是其机构的优先事项，而非知识产权商业化，因为只有少数人（18%）报告称其机构与当地企业有合作安排，22%的人表示其机构设有运作中的知识产权管理办公室（IPMO）。约30%的受访者报告称其机构存在知识产权政策。在大多数情况下，受访者认为对知识产权进行有效管理的需求（86.7%）促使机构决定制定知识产权政策。在表示其机构有知识产权政策的受访者中，略超过三分之一至一半的人承认其机构的知识产权政策旨在规范利益分享和知识产权所有权的机制。在那些报告其机构有知识产权政策的人中，只有12.8%表示这些政策正在实施。大多数受访者（80.4%）知道雇佣合同的存在，但只有28.4%的人签署了合同，12.8%的人清楚知晓他们受雇是为了发明创造。超过20%的受访者表示其机构有开发和管理知识产权的能力，只有四分之一的受访者报告有知识产权管理能力。不到40%的受访者承认其机构有创业能力，30%的人确认其机构有能力设立IPMO。
受访者的意见表明，由于保护所产生的知识产权的框架、机制、结构和资源不足或缺乏，坦桑尼亚的大学和健康研究机构在知识产权管理方面能力不足。需要技术和财政支持来加强坦桑尼亚大学和健康研究机构的知识产权管理能力。
