IP can increase the margin of negotiation of start-ups with investors and “Business Angels”. It also contributes to the promotion of creations, the stimulation of creativity and customer loyalty.
“Intellectual property is a precious art. It is both a protection tool and a source of project development. With the emergence of technologies that are transforming the way we work, in an ever more interconnected digital world, intellectual property is an essential step for any type of project”, underlined Najeh Ben Abdessalem, Vice-President of the Chamber of Commerce and d’industrie de Tunis, during his speech at the Euro-Mediterranean conference on intellectual property and innovation held recently in Tunis.
Organized by the Ccit under the theme “challenges for SMEs and new entrepreneurs on the global market”, the event brought together academics, industrialists, entrepreneurs as well as representatives of various business support structures, from several countries. of the Euro-Mediterranean region. Several panels punctuated this day dedicated to the debate around intellectual property in the field of industry and provided an overview of the issues relating to industrial property (IP).
The benefits of IP
To better elucidate this concept, Saida Ben Achour, patent examiner and Deputy Director of Innovation at Innorpi, succinctly defined IP and its different categories. Indeed, intellectual and industrial property concerns all protected products that consumers use on a daily basis. It designates intellectual works, in this case literary and artistic works, emblems, names and images used in commerce and inventions. It has two parts: copyright and related rights and industrial property which are patents, trademarks and industrial designs and models.
Intellectual property derives its importance from the advantages and benefits it offers to creators, companies and entrepreneurs. Ben Achour stressed, in this context, that entrepreneurs and particularly startuppers, have an interest in protecting their products, for several reasons. Indeed, industrial property makes it possible to create value given that it is an immaterial capital of the company whose value can even exceed the material capital of this same company.
In several cases, it is even the only capital of the start-up, by which it will open up to the markets, believes the speaker. She added that IP also makes it possible to increase the negotiation margin of start-ups with investors and “Business Angels”, in addition to the fact that it contributes to the dissemination and promotion of creations, the stimulation of creativity, the loyalty customers, internationalization and renewed credibility in the market. Finally, it helps to fight against counterfeiting by protecting companies against the marketing of imitated products, says Ben Achour.
Tunisia at the forefront
Referring to the legislative framework relating to IP, the manager presented the different types of creation that can be protected by law in Tunisia. These are the brand, the invention and the design and the industrial model. With regard to the trademark, its ownership can only be acquired by registration and it is valid for a period of 10 years renewable indefinitely.
As for the protection of design and industrial models, it concerns the ornamental or aesthetic aspect of the products. According to Tunisian law, it cannot be obtained definitively and it is only valid for 5, 10 or at most 15 years.
For inventions, they are protected via a patent granted by Innorpi, which is currently working on the revision of patent legislation, with the aim of granting stronger titles and in harmony with current legislation. international.
The panelist also said that Tunisia was one of the first to join to the industrial property system since it is a founding signatory member of the Paris Convention which was created in 1886, and which is the parent convention of industrial property.
Since the creation of the World Intellectual Property Organization in 2001, Tunisia has worked to adhere to the various treaties relating to IP such as the Geneva Act of the Hague Agreement and the Protocol relating to the of Madrid (in 2013) and has continued to update its legislative arsenal in order to facilitate international registration procedures.
“Who says intellectual property says protection of an idea or an invention. It is a protection that allows the creation of an environment conducive to innovation, the dissemination of this creation and its promotion. The goal is to encourage downstream creation. This management of available knowledge translated by the principle of intellectual property is both a prerequisite and a stimulus for the intellectual activity of the company”, underlined, in this same context, Ben Abdessalem.
The IP MED project and its objectives
The conference was crowned by the presentation of checks to the startuppers who won the IP MED project sub-grant. This is a project financed by the Mediterranean cross-border cooperation program within the framework of the neighborhood policy.
It aims, according to Ben Abdessalem, to contribute to the development of the intellectual property of start-ups, SMEs and women entrepreneurs but also to the capacity building of stakeholders who value young entrepreneurs by raising their awareness of the principles of intellectual property rights. A call for proposals has been launched, for this purpose, by the Ccit and the Jordanian Development and Cooperation Company (Jetco), for the award of six grants that will support proof of concept projects in Tunisia and Jordan. .
The vice-president of the Ccit announced that four candidates were selected by the selection committee, namely: the start-up “WedTect” for its project “Intelligent system for detecting leaks in water pipes”, the start-up “Vizmerald” for its project “Support for the prototyping and intellectual property of the Amen Air helmet”, the startup “Biodex-SA” for its project “Immuno Defender” and the startup “El Fallega” for its project “Design and development of the mobile application El Fallega”.