Some 3 100 intellectual property (IP) and technology transfer professionals have been trained over the past 15 years, with women accounting for more than 55% of participants.
This is according to the National Intellectual Property Management Office (NIPMO), which recently provided an update on SA’s IP ecosystem to Parliament’s portfolio committees on science, technology and innovation and trade, industry and competition.
A specialised unit within the Department of Science, Technology and Innovation, NIPMO is responsible for overseeing IP arising from publicly-funded research and development conducted at universities, science councils and other research institutions.
It operates within the concept and development and pre-commercial phases of the innovation value chain, ensuring publicly-funded research outputs are protected and translated into social and economic value.
According to unit, the training initiative is part of building South Africa’s IP management system through the development of skills and expertise in IP and technology transfer, which has been a key focus over the past 15 years.
Over the past decade, NIPMO’s IP Fund, which provides financial support to institutions to secure and maintain statutory IP rights, has supported more than 30 institutions, with an average rebate payout of 48% on qualifying claims.
During this period, institutions filed IP fund claims totalling R500.5 million, it revealed.
“Over the past decade, institutions have reported an average of 249 invention disclosures annually, with 91% of institutions submitting at least one new disclosure,” according to NIPMO.
“More than 3 300 active invention disclosures are currently recorded on NIPMO’s confidential database. Importantly, approximately 14% of these disclosures have progressed to licensing or commercialisation, highlighting the growing potential of publicly-funded research to generate economic and social value through the transfer of knowledge and technology.”
South Africa’s National Development Plan notes IP is an important policy instrument in promoting innovation, technology transfer, research and development, industrial development − and more broadly − economic growth.
NIPMO indicated it has prioritised five key objectives for 2026 to 2029.
These include finalising and adopting amendments to the IPR Amendment Bill; sustaining and expanding the support funding of offices of technology transfer; strengthening institutional support for technology transfer activities; improving national reporting, oversight, tracking of publicly-supported IP; and strengthening its role as the national IP system coordinator by leveraging the five-yearly IP and technology transfer surveys.
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