The two-day training courtesy of Intellectual Property Office at the Ministry of Justice through a project from the Intellectual Plus Programme, seeks to increase participant’s awareness on Intellectual Property as business stakeholders to protect their brands in line with international standards.
Besides, the initiative forms part of a broader initiative of the World Intellectual Property Organization targeting SMEs.
At the event, David Colley, lead consultant of the IP Plus programme, explained that the training has increased the awareness of Intellectual Property, for which they received trademark certificates to show that all their brands have been protected and meet international standards.
The Ministry of Justice and the Gambia Chamber of Commerce, he added, were working tirelessly with their international partners to ensure that not only that project, but many other projects that are geared towards supporting the promotion of IP.
Abdoulie Colley, Registrar General, Ministry of Justice, described the training as vital for the women in view of the fact that had leveraged their businesses and helped them venture into new things that would give them more income and expand their businesses.
“We are proud that we have come this far and the women were able to successfully complete the mentorship program.”
He explained that when the women applied for the mentorship programme, they went through all the required procedures for the registration of their brands and now they have been certified.
Rose F. Coker, a participant and owner of Rose Afrique, expressed appreciation to the facilitators, acknowledging that the training had enlightened her more on Intellectual Property.
She stated the importance of IP which involves innovation that an individual created within their business.
“I understood the importance IP does, that is why I wanted to stand out as a business owner and had to change my business logo a bit and in the end, the goal that I am envisioning is to have a global brand.”
