In the medium to the longer-term, financial and technical support is required to purchase and maintain basic
detection and testing equipment for the police, customs office. Additionally, support will be needed for the
development of IP enforcement manuals for all the key agencies. Such manuals would provide a background to
the law and international regulations, best practices and procedures in detection and testing, the rights and
obligations of complainants and third parties and procedures for seizure and destruction of infringing goods as
well as key distinctions between criminal cases and civil commercial cases. These manual could also include
information regarding any common procedures or coordination requirements in the context of the EAC customs
procedures.
(d) Access to jurisprudence and research resources for the Commercial Courts
The court system plays an important role in arbitrating claims related to IP. In Rwanda, as part of the
comprehensive commercial law reform a Commercial High Court has been set-up which will hear all
commercial cases including most IP cases. As already noted, while the court is yet to hear any IP cases, the
enactment of the new IP Code coupled with increasing private sector and public awareness is likely to lead to a
growing number of IP related cases. A key need for the court, in addition to training for judges, relates to access
to jurisprudence and other reference materials. While this need may be partly addressed by the establishment of
an IP resource and information centre at MINICOM, the special needs of the High Court are unlikely to be fully
addressed by the national reference centre. A special IP section will be required to be set up in the Commercial
Court library. This will require financial support not only for the purchase of some hard copy reference
materials but also subscriptions to key legal resources.
6. Stakeholders’ views
The need to develop a special legislative and institutional framework for the protection of traditional knowledge
and to ensure prior-informed consent and benefit-sharing for access to genetic resources in Rwanda was
emphasised as a priority need by various stakeholders at the national stakeholder workshop. The legal systems
and institutional framework needs to be aimed, among others, at: recognising the value of traditional knowledge
and responding to the needs of the knowledge holders; promoting respect for traditional knowledge and its
conservation and preservation including repression of unfair and inequitable uses of the knowledge; promoting
innovation and creativity and overall community development including facilitating legitimate trade in
traditional knowledge-based goods and services; and preventing biopiracy.
The new Rwanda IP Law mandates the development of a special law on traditional knowledge and genetic
resources. To be able to develop a comprehensive law will a national stakeholder consultations and the
development of the legislative framework all of which will require technical and financial assistance. To ensure
that the resulting legislative and institutional framework is comprehensive and fit for purpose the technical
assistance should be provided by an interdisciplinary team of experts.
Stakeholders also mentioned the need for technical and financial assistance to train the representative of the key
stakeholders within government and in the private sector, research institutions and civil society in basic
concepts around innovation, IP and creativity, including the use of flexibilities in international treaties was
emphasised by numerous stakeholders. Equally, many stakeholders stressed the need for technical and financial
assistance to support national public awareness programmes delivered through radio, television and other
media. This needs to happen in the short-term.
In the medium-term, the priority needs to be on the development of advanced tailor-made courses on
development, innovation and IP for: government officials in all the key ministries and agencies particularly
MINICOM, Ministry in charge of Culture, Ministry in charge of Science and Technology and RDB; senior
industry managers and managers of the key scientific institutions; and for IP teaching in law, economics,
science and management faculties at the university.
To ensure continued education and capacity development among governmental, private sector, research and
civil society stakeholders as well as to support research and policy analysis in the longer-term, the need for
15