Belarus' export of intellectual property usage services nearly 5 times up since 2016

MINSK, 19 July (BelTA) – The volume of export of services in the area of payments for using intellectual property totaled $125 million in 2020, nearly five times up since 2016. Chairman of the State Science and Technology Committee of Belarus Aleksandr Shumilin made the statement as a summer school of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) opened in Minsk on 19 July, the committee's press service told BelTA.

The usage of rights to intellectual property assets can generate substantial revenues for an organization and for the country as a whole. “Despite the complicated foreign economic situation H1 2021 demonstrated steady growth of the export of intellectual property usage services in comparison with H1 2020. It means Belarusian R&D products are in demand abroad. It also means that Belarusians are earning more and more with their intellect,” Aleksandr Shumilin stressed.

The official also noted that in addition to invention activities the level of legal literacy in the sphere of intellectual property that allows effectively using the innovative potential is a key factor of economic development of the country. The State Science and Technology Committee of Belarus works hard in this direction at the national level and the international one. A number of joint projects are being implemented by the national patent office with assistance of WIPO, including the summer school, which has been organized for the first time.

WIPO summer schools are educational events, which are organized in various countries together with government agencies and higher education institutions. The summer school in Belarus will focus on international and regional patent systems, trademarks and the Internet, copyright licensing, protection of intellectual property rights, intellectual property management and evaluation, public health protection, and green technologies.

The WIPO summer school is scheduled to take place in Minsk on 19-30 July in line with the memorandum of understanding between the Belarusian government and the World Intellectual Property Organization as well as the Belarusian strategy in the sphere of intellectual property.