BRIN emphasizes the importance of IP protection for researchers
07 October 2024
The National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) of Indonesia has emphasized the importance of safeguarding intellectual property to provide legal protection for researchers’ innovative efforts.
“Protecting intellectual property rights is not only about legality but also giving certainty on the economic rights of inventors and preventing intellectual property violations,” Ahmad Fathoni, director of BRIN’s Applied Microbiology Research Center, said in a statement on August 26, 2024.
He also emphasized the need to take a worldwide viewpoint into account when evaluating Indonesia’s intellectual property potential, which may be achieved by taking steps like creating a collective intellectual property inventory. “Indonesia has many potentials in intellectual property, especially in the fields of biotechnology and microbiology. However, to be able to compete in the international market, it is important for us to ensure that our intellectual property is legally protected,” he stated.
Nugraha Ramadhany, a policy analyst at BRIN’s Directorate of Intellectual Property Management, stressed that in order to guard against overseas theft or exploitation, communal intellectual property – such as traditional culture and genetic resources – must be recognized and safeguarded.
According to Ramadhany, communal intellectual property registration and inventory not only safeguard local communities’ rights but also create avenues for the growth of an intellectual-driven economy. For this reason, intellectual property protection has enormous economic potential.
He said that having both individual and collective intellectual property rights gives business participants legal protection and the ability to maximize intellectual property for commercialization and the creation of cutting-edge goods.
To do this, BRIN is urging scientists to register the intellectual property rights pertaining to their research findings as soon as possible. For scholars and the public to be more proactive in safeguarding their works and promoting innovation and long-term, sustainable national economic growth, he expressed the hope that there would be an improvement in knowledge and awareness of the significance of intellectual property rights.
- Excel V. Dyquiangco
