Inventions, new ideas to tackle COVID-19 welcome in Oman: MOCI
Muscat: Inventors and researchers who have fresh perspectives and new ideas to fight COVID-19 in Oman are welcome to approach the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
These innovations can either be for the early detection of the disease, or preventive measures from the infection. Registering them with MOCI ensures they are subject to copyright and not plagiarised.
Ali bin Hamad Al Mamari, Director of the Intellectual Property Department at MOCI, said: “The spread of the pandemic has prompted many individuals and institutions of various sectors to invent and bring out hundreds of new innovations, whether in the form of medicines, or tools to deal with the threat of the virus and prevent it.
He added: “These innovations are of different types that can be used for protection in various sectors. For example, there is a unique smart buckle which can be kept in the pocket and used to push open doors without touching them. Also, there is a smart bracelet which a person wears on his wrist, and buzzes when his hand gets too close to his face. There is also a sanitiser which can be attached to the wrist, along with a pair of gloves.
Experts in the ministry were coordinating with the innovators and relevant authorities to register their innovations that are related to dealing with the coronavirus and its prevention. These experts guide them about the format of their applications, how to file them, and register them so that their rights are protected. The ministry has already received a number of applications in this regard and in the initial stage of the process of registration, they will be evaluated by the experts in the intellectual property department.
Ali Al Maamari said: “The Ministry of Commerce and Industry believes that it was important for all concerned authorities and the private sector companies to support inventors in the process of manufacturing, development and transformation of their ideas into commercial projects or products to benefit from them. He pointed out that among of these innovations which could be protected under copyright law, was a fast, automated process of recording the results of tests to identify the presence of the virus in people, which could replace the more common time-consuming data recording process.
He said: “In the field of artificial intelligence, many innovations have been developed to use analytical software in order to measure the temperature of individuals and provide an alert if high temperatures are detected. It can be used in public places, such as hospitals, airports and corporate offices.”
Those who are interested in registering their innovations and need to protect them should take advantage of ministerial decision no. 206/2018. The ministry has currently reduced fees of intellectual property services by 90 percent for industrial property rights of students of schools, colleges, universities, and researchers in research centres and by 50 percent for those who work at small enterprises.
This decision has made a positive impact on this segment and increased the number of respective applications Owners of ideas that could help fight COVID-19 are requested to contact the MOCI to find out how they can benefit from this decision and register their innovations to protect them from copyright infringement.