SENO NAMWANDI

Director of Innovation & IP, International University of Management (IUM)

Seno Namwandi is one of the pioneers of Intellectual Property (IP) in Namibia. Seno is employed full time at the International University of Management (IUM) where she serves as the Director of Innovation and IP. She is also the youngest director on the board of the Business Intellectual Property Authority (BIPA) in Namibia. Her recent achievement was being selected as a 2018 Mandela Washington Fellow. Seno has a Masters degree in IP from Africa University, Zimbabwe and other postgraduate certifications in IP. She obtained her Bachelor’s degree in Molecular Biology and Biotechnology from Stellenbosch University, South Africa.

 

 
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Protecting your Intellectual Property as an entrepreneur
Protecting your Intellectual Property as an entrepreneur

by Seno Namwandi

Intellectual Property (IP) is widely spoken of but not always well understood. The IP ecosystem is complex, broad and has to balance varying interests from creators to financiers to consumers. It is relevant to the songwriter, medical technician, architect, software coder, business owner etc. IP is loosely defined as a legal right granted to a property that arises as a result of intellectual activity or creative input. It is inherently a legal right granted by a government body to exclude unauthorized third party use. Enforcement varies from jurisdiction to jurisdiction which can be complicated. However, through the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), there are a set of uniform legislations and regulations to govern IP.

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 Choosing a Name that Counts
 Choosing a Name that Counts

by Seno Namwandi

Names enable us to identify different people, places, countries and things. Birth certificates, title deeds or other legal arrangements often legitimatize these names. Similarly, business names enable us to identify one enterprise from another. Business names are legitimized through the intellectual property system called trademarks. 

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The Patent Pickle
The Patent Pickle

by Seno Namwandi

Intellectual Property has various types of rights under its umbrella. Patents tend to be on the far spectrum of strictness and have one of the highest returns on investment for companies through licensing agreements. On the other end of the spectrum are trade secrets, which are governed by contractual agreements, these tend to be more fluid in nature and therefore more difficult to protect, control and manage. 

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Why you should care about IP
Why you should care about IP

by Seno Namwandi

The business economy revolves around what one knows, knowledge is now a commodity and therefore to trade it as a commodity, one has to be able to quantify it. Intellectual Property enables quantification of knowledge expressed in various forms. Intellectual property (IP) is the legal right granted by a government entity to creations that result from one’s intellect and/or creativity. IP enables ownership of these creations and the legalizing element of ownership therefore enables an aspect of trading.

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