UBD reviews IP policy for possible re-draft

UNIVERSITI Brunei Darussalam (UBD) is currently reviewing its Intellectual Property (IP) policy, which was recently drafted, in a bid to protect the work and research that its academicians and students have produced.

This will also complement its ambition of erecting an "enterprise and innovation office" aimed at bridging the gap between academic research and commercialisation.

Following a public lecture on IP yesterday at the university's Faculty of Science, Dean of Postgraduate Studies and Research Dr Tan Kha Sheng said that UBD is looking at the possibility of re-drafting their IP policy to keep it up-to-date and relevant in today's dynamic, global IP atmosphere.

He remarked that this was crucial to safeguard the work of the lecturers at the university who are often enlisted by government agencies to carry out research on areas of national interest.

The enterprise and innovation office, which was first mentioned in June by UBD's Vice-Chancellor, will facilitate the process of patenting the research carried out in the university, Dr Tan said.

"The university (through the office) will first look at the invention then if the university thinks that it is viable (for commercialisation), then we will apply for a patent," he told The Brunei Times.

He added that the office will coordinate with the Attorney General's Chambers on the legal aspects of the patenting process. To his knowledge, there has yet to be any patented work from the university.

But inventors usually applied for patents for their work themselves through Singapore or Malaysia since no patent office exists in Brunei, he added. However, there is a trademark office here which does facilitate individuals who wish to patent their work.

Senior Intellectual Property and Commercialisation Advisor to Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), Khairul Anuar Hj Azmi, who delivered the briefing, stressed the need for UBD to introduce a legal office to protect its work. He said that USM currently has more than 130 active patents.

The patent attorney has also been asked by UBD to assist them in reviewing the IP policy. "Among the things we will be discussing is the ratio of which (the money generated from the patented work) is shared between the university and the researcher. At USM, it is 80:20. We give 80 per cent to the researcher to motivate them."

He explained that USM's focus was encouraging the academicians to produce more excellent work rather than the monetary gains that the university would get from it.

UBD lecturers present at the public lecture agreed with Khairul's remarks, saying that universities would benefit more from international recognition than the money. They also said that this ratio would be more encouraging to academicians as they would receive tangible rewards for their work.

According to Khairul, to be eligible for a patent in Malaysia or Singapore, one would have to satisfy three main criteria.

"You can only patent a product which is new, has inventive steps and is industrially-applicable or can be commercialised," he said.

Malaysia and Singapore were among the 141 signatories of the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT), which facilitates the process of patenting internationally.

Although Brunei is not a PCT country now, he hoped the Sultanate would become a signatory soon.

The Brunei Times