Intellectual Property Protection as An Enabler of Local Content in Uganda

Abstract

The objective was to provide complex information how to deal with intellectual property and how it can be protected in Uganda. Specifically, the research sough to examine the current status of Intellectual Property Rights in regards Technology Transfer and Patent Protection for local Oil and Gas companies, discuss the opportunities that Intellectual Property Protection avails for the local Oil and Gas businesses and to analyze the challenges facing Intellectual Property protection in Uganda especially for Oil and Gas Companies. To achieve this the study adopted a cross sectional research design that combined both qualitative and quantitative methods. The research mainly focused a target population of 30 O&G business owners and key legislators. The study revealed that the Ugandan law protects intellectual property rights, but the government rarely enforces the law to prevent piracy and counterfeit distribution. While the Uganda Registration Services Bureau provides a standardized process for registering each type of intellectual property and allows for investors to enforce their rights through the court system, enforcement remains weak. Among the many opportunities that were discovered in the research, and that have been discussed in the chapter before, none stood out for the oil and gas like technology transfer. Technological capacities have been promoted through the transfer of technologies by foreign investors in the oil and gas industry. The study also found some challenges that impacted the ability of IPRs to improve local content in the country. Apart from lack of awareness and knowledge on IP, the costs of registering IP are generally perceived as one of the greatest barriers for SMEs. In budgeting the costs relating to the acquisition of IP rights, entrepreneurs need to take into consideration not only the official fees but also the costs relating to application preparation and prosecution, legal advice and translation costs whenever the applicant intends to apply for protection abroad. The study concluded that that the costs of getting IP protection may be perceived by many SMEs as exceeding the potential benefits to be obtained from protection, particularly considering that a significant part of the costs may be incurred before the product has reached the market and that lenders, investors or government programs rarely provide financial support for the protection of IP rights.