Qualcomm and Adams and Adams Launch Free Online IP Training for African Innovators

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JOHANNESBURG, January 11, 2024 /3BL/ - Qualcomm Incorporated announced the launch of L2Pro Africa IP e-learning Platform, a free online training program designed to empower startups, SMEs, and researchers in Africa to protect, secure, and maximize their innovations. This program has been created in collaboration with Adams and Adams, Africa's leading intellectual property (IP) law firm.

The L2ProAfrica platform will provide comprehensive training on intellectual property fundamentals, including patents, copyrights, trademarks, and IP integration into business models. The program draws from globally applicable IP principles developed by IP law experts for L2ProIndia and The Inventor's Patent Academy in the US. Both courses have been authored by IP law professors and EDI experts who have made this complex topic accessible and useable by inventors.

“In Africa, where innovation and creativity are abundant, the level of patenting remains significantly lower than in other regions.”, said Sudeepto Roy, VP, Engineering, Qualcomm Incorporated, and the lead of Qualcomm’s Africa Innovation Platform initiative. “With only miniscule percentage of global patents filed in Africa, we are missing out on the immense economic potential that the continent's ingenuity holds. This new free online training program, L2ProAfrica, is a critical step towards empowering African inventors with the knowledge and tools they need to protect their ideas and bring their inventions to life. We have seen at first hand, the impact of similar programs in Europe, US and in India, and are confident that by nurturing a culture of intellectual property protection, we can foster economic growth, create jobs, and transform Africa into a global hub of innovation.”

A crucial part of the course, authored by attorneys at Adams and Adams, focuses on individual filing procedures for patents, industrial designs and trademarks in the countries of Kenya, Nigeria, Uganda, Ghana, Rwanda and within the two African patent organisations, ARIPO and OAPI. These step-by-step descriptions of per-country filing requirements empower inventors to interact effectively with IP professionals such as a IP attorneys and their respective IP offices.

Adams & Adams, is a renowned expert in IP law, comprising of a team of seasoned professionals with extensive experience in drafting, prosecuting, and managing patents, trademarks and designs. The firm's commitment to promoting patent education and empowering inventors is evident in its numerous initiatives, including workshops, seminars, and publications designed to demystify the patenting process and encourage innovation across the continent. Adams & Adams' expertise and dedication to fostering a thriving IP ecosystem make it an invaluable partner in this collaborative effort to enhance patent education and empower African innovators.

“We are excited to partner with Qualcomm in the L2ProAfrica program to increase awareness about the important role of IP and to improve access to the IP systems on the continent. As a result of our extensive expertise and experience in securing and protecting IP across Africa, we are able to share our knowledge on navigating the various IP systems and provide support to start ups and innovators, who make a valuable contribution to economic development of the continent. Our involvement in the program demonstrates our ongoing commitment to strengthening the IP ecosystem and realising Africa’s abundant potential,” said Nicky Garnett, Partner, Adams & Adams.

The launch of L2ProAfrica complements Qualcomm’s commitment to democratizing knowledge about IP systems and empower aspiring innovators of all backgrounds worldwide. Qualcomm has implemented similar programs in other countries and regions, including L2Pro in Germany, the United Kingdom, Italy, France, and L2ProIndia (in collaboration with the Government of India and National Law University), and The Inventor’s Patent Academy in the US (in collaboration with Invent Together, an alliance aimed at ensuring broader access to the patent system and greater diversity among patent holders).

About Qualcomm 
Qualcomm is enabling a world where everyone and everything can be intelligently connected. Our one technology roadmap allows us to efficiently scale the technologies that launched the mobile revolution – including advanced connectivity, high-performance, low-power compute, on-device intelligence and more – to the next generation of connected smart devices across industries. Innovations from Qualcomm and our family of Snapdragon platforms will help enable cloud-edge convergence, transform industries, accelerate the digital economy, and revolutionize how we experience the world, for the greater good.

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