No | Durée | COMMENTAIRE et ITV |
| 1. | 00’’ | Yaoundé. Just the calm Edmond Létsini needed to live and work. This trained electrical engineer has been a researcher and inventor for the past 15 years. His latest brainchild: a water filter adapted to the conditions on the continent. |
| 2. | 00’’ | Edmond LETSINI – Inventor : “Three of my cousins caught amoebic dysentery at a time when we were using traditional filters with two compartments … that inspired me to devise these filters based on the activated carbon our grandmothers gave us when we were little.” |
| 3. | 00’’ | Edmond LETSINI – Inventor : « The aim of this invention is to make it possible for all social categories – especially the underprivileged – to have access to drinking water and to eradicate water-borne diseases. » |
| 4. | 00’’ | Edmond LETSINI – Inventor : « The aim of this invention is to make it possible for all social categories – especially the underprivileged – to have access to drinking water and to eradicate water-borne diseases. » |
| 5. | 00’’ | And the stakes are high: according to the World Health Organisation 80% of illnesses in developing countries are associated with water and 30 million people die each year from epidemics or diseases caused by polluted water. |
6. | 00’’ | Edmond’s invention took six years investment in time and money. The filter is currently being studied at a research centre and our inventor wasted no time contacting the African Organisation for Intellectual Copyright |
| 7. | 00’’ | Edmond’s invention took six years investment in time and money. The filter is currently being studied at a research centre and our inventor wasted no time contacting the African Organisation for Intellectual Copyright to apply for a patent. The OAPI is an intergovernmental organisation with 16 member states and was established over forty years ago to protect copyright, brands and industrial designs. Although their activity is still relatively unknown by the general public it concerns all sectors – quickly confirmed by a glance at the institutions’ archives. |
8. | 00’’ | Edmond now has the guarantee that any company or individual using his water filter must negotiate exploitation rights. If they fail to do so Edmond can sue for damages. |
| 9. | 00’’ | Kabore Issoufou Head of the OAPI patent department: « Protecting your invention means taking two approaches: you avoid your invention being exploited abusively by a third party and you make it profitable by exploiting it yourself or by licensing a third party to use it. » |
| 10. | 00’’ | It usually costs around $1,000 to apply for a patent – a sizeable investment added to the annual fee of $86. A grant system is being put in place to encourage inventors from member nations to protect their intellectual copyright. |
| 11. | 00’’ | Edmond Letsini – inventor «I came to the OAPI, to protect my invention with a patent so I could market it. I paid $48 because I am an OAPI member which qualifies me for a grant to patent my invention. The patent shows that I am the owner of the invention and that I can market it and license people to use it. » |
| 12. | 00’’ | Patent pending refers to the initial stage in patent approval. In this phase OAPI studies the characteristics of the invention and, above all, checks the archives to make sure a patent hasn’t been issued - in the near or distant past – for the same invention. The organisation is not merely a registry office it also provides advice and carries out studies for its clients in each country with OAPI offices. Alpha CISSE is a Malian inventor living in Bamako. He already received much acclaim for his patented voting machine. |
| 13. | 00’’ | Françoise EKANI appointed Lawyer: « In 80% of cases they discover intellectual copyright when there is a dispute over counterfeit goods. Then and only then do they wonder what to do and how to do it. So it’s not preventive it’s to solve a problem .» |
| 14. | 00’’ | This lack of knowledge is not limited to entrepreneurs – it is also a political problem. |
| 15. | 00’’ | Professor Barthélémy Nyassé – Yaoundé I University: « Governments are not sufficiently aware of the benefits of intellectual copyright which explains why intellectual copyright is still, in terms of reputation and exploitation, a poor cousin in the context of OAPI . » |
| 16. | 00’’ | For many years intellectual copyright was associated with disputes opposing certain African nations and major pharmaceutical groups. A battle that masked a large part of the larger picture of industrial copyright in Africa. Paulin Edou Edou has been OAPI director general for the past year. This university graduate believes it is time to raise awareness of the importance of intellectual copyright among the continent’s partners. A lot is at stake for the economic and social development of member nations. |
| 17. | 00’’ | ITW Paulin EDOU EDOU – OAPI Director General « Imagine for a moment that a government decides not to emphasize the importance of intellectual copyright. What would happen? Well that country would have taken the decision to import and distribute manufactured goods. If, however, a country opts for a policy of establishing intellectual copyright then that country has chosen the local exploitation of raw materials, that country has chosen industrialisation and local processing of raw materials and local products.» |
| 18. | 00’’ | Cameroon’s business leaders must now encourage companies to approach the organisation and reap the benefits of intellectual copyright. |
| 19. | 00’’ | Itw de Martin Abega – Deputy Secretary of the Cameroonian Inter Patronal Group : « You also have local companies who for one reason or another are not really aware of what OAPI can do for them and just what advantages intellectual copyright brings. It is important to do all we can to make sure the companies understand that OAPI is a gold mine to be exploited. » « …the time has come for us to be more aware of that and realise that as OAPI partners we will be able to protect our interests and our achievements as well as innovating and developing. » |
| 20. | 00’’ | Edmond knows that the road to the ‘gold mine’ is a long one: OAPI protection does not automatically mean a green light to market a product. Today our inventor has a meeting with the subsidiary of a foreign investment company interested in his patent water filter. Edmond must convince them that his invention has real potential – the goal being industrial production and, who knows, another 100% Made in Africa product. |
