Ignorance blamed for piracy of intellectual property
Ignorance blamed for piracy of intellectual property
JAKARTA (JP): Two prominent academics this week acknowledged
that scientists and inventors' ignorance of their intellectual
property rights contributed to rampant piracy and plagiarism.
The two academics, interviewed separately by The Jakarta Post
in connection with the House of Representatives' amendments to
laws on intellectual property rights, described how ignorance
meant inventors were often unaware of material losses inflicted
on them.
Eko Budihardjo, Dean of the School of Engineering at the
University of Diponegoro in Semarang, Central Java, said this
week that scientists and inventors rarely registered their
inventions, let alone request patent rights.
He blamed the situation on the local culture which gave no
room for the cultivation of intellectual copyright.
"Scientists here never apply for protection of their
intellectual rights, because the practice is regarded as a part
of western culture," Budiardjo said.
He said scientists were not yet familiar with application
procedures for property rights and patenting, and rarely felt
their ignorance caused material losses.
As an example, he cited Balinese artists who had never applied
for patents on their works: "This has given foreigners the
freedom to copy their works."
The professors conceded not all research results had
commercial benefits.
"Inventions in engineering such as new techniques to build
expressways, certainly need patenting, but theoretical inventions
like in physics and biology, which are not commercial and
popularly used, are difficult to patent," he said.
He said his university had recently launched a campaign to
raise awareness of intellectual property rights by establishing a
council to select inventions which could be patented.
The council's presence was expected to help fight piracy and
plagiarism in the university, he said.
Umar Fahmi Ahmadi who heads the University of Indonesia's
research body said yesterday the problem was also in scientists
being obligated to register their work as soon as possible.
"In the scientific tradition, the result of research is
usually made public so that others can decide on its worth. But
the irony here is that once it is announced anyone can freely
copy it, making it no longer eligible for patenting," he said.
Umar said the search for funding of research projects often
involved the researcher making elaborate presentations of a
research plan.
"This is where the project usually leaks."
He proposed the establishment of a special institution to
coordinate researchers, the results of whose work would be
patented. The institution would help researchers find funding and
enable them to work confidentially.
The National Institute of Sciences (LIPI) said there would be
no problem with copyright in Indonesia if researchers were more
aware of their services; it has possessed its own department for
arranging patent rights for some time.
"An awareness of the importance of patent rights is quite high
here," an official of the institute, who did not wish to be
named, said.
LIPI had its own patent and copyrights consultant and would
arrange all rights needed by all its scientists, he said.
(12/aan)
JAKARTA (JP): Two prominent academics this week acknowledged
that scientists and inventors' ignorance of their intellectual
property rights contributed to rampant piracy and plagiarism.
The two academics, interviewed separately by The Jakarta Post
in connection with the House of Representatives' amendments to
laws on intellectual property rights, described how ignorance
meant inventors were often unaware of material losses inflicted
on them.
Eko Budihardjo, Dean of the School of Engineering at the
University of Diponegoro in Semarang, Central Java, said this
week that scientists and inventors rarely registered their
inventions, let alone request patent rights.
He blamed the situation on the local culture which gave no
room for the cultivation of intellectual copyright.
"Scientists here never apply for protection of their
intellectual rights, because the practice is regarded as a part
of western culture," Budiardjo said.
He said scientists were not yet familiar with application
procedures for property rights and patenting, and rarely felt
their ignorance caused material losses.
As an example, he cited Balinese artists who had never applied
for patents on their works: "This has given foreigners the
freedom to copy their works."
The professors conceded not all research results had
commercial benefits.
"Inventions in engineering such as new techniques to build
expressways, certainly need patenting, but theoretical inventions
like in physics and biology, which are not commercial and
popularly used, are difficult to patent," he said.
He said his university had recently launched a campaign to
raise awareness of intellectual property rights by establishing a
council to select inventions which could be patented.
The council's presence was expected to help fight piracy and
plagiarism in the university, he said.
Umar Fahmi Ahmadi who heads the University of Indonesia's
research body said yesterday the problem was also in scientists
being obligated to register their work as soon as possible.
"In the scientific tradition, the result of research is
usually made public so that others can decide on its worth. But
the irony here is that once it is announced anyone can freely
copy it, making it no longer eligible for patenting," he said.
Umar said the search for funding of research projects often
involved the researcher making elaborate presentations of a
research plan.
"This is where the project usually leaks."
He proposed the establishment of a special institution to
coordinate researchers, the results of whose work would be
patented. The institution would help researchers find funding and
enable them to work confidentially.
The National Institute of Sciences (LIPI) said there would be
no problem with copyright in Indonesia if researchers were more
aware of their services; it has possessed its own department for
arranging patent rights for some time.
"An awareness of the importance of patent rights is quite high
here," an official of the institute, who did not wish to be
named, said.
LIPI had its own patent and copyrights consultant and would
arrange all rights needed by all its scientists, he said.
(12/aan)