Liberia to Validate Draft Intellectual Property Policy

Published: September 30, 2026

Flashback: Hon. Garmai Koboi, Director General of the Liberia Intellectual Property Office, speaks at the Ministry of Information on March 5, highlighting progress made by the government in raising awareness about intellectual property among businesses, creatives and other stakeholders.

MONROVIA – The Government of Liberia, through the Liberia Intellectual Property Office (LIPO), in collaboration with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), will host a two-day validation workshop on the country’s draft National Intellectual Property Policy and Strategy, known as NIPPS.

The workshop, scheduled for October 15-16, will bring together key public and private sector actors to review and validate the draft policy, which is intended to establish a national framework for the protection, management, enforcement and commercialization of intellectual property, while providing a clearer direction for how innovation and creativity can contribute to Liberia’s economic transformation.

The validation comes as the Government of Liberia has placed greater emphasis on intellectual property as part of its broader economic development agenda. Under Pillar One of the ARREST Agenda for Inclusive Development, the government’s economic transformation strategy seeks to create a competitive, diversified and private-sector-driven economy, with particular attention to innovation, investment, employment and wealth creation. The national development framework identifies building a robust intellectual property ecosystem as part of that broader effort to improve Liberia’s business-enabling environment.

According to a statement from LIPO, the draft document provides a clearer national direction for using intellectual property to support businesses, entrepreneurs and Liberia’s growing creative sector, including provisions addressing artificial intelligence and its implications for intellectual property. The inclusion of AI-related provisions comes as the technology continues to raise new questions around ownership, protection and commercialization of creative works and inventions.

“A stronger IP framework helps businesses identify and protect trademarks, inventions, designs and other intangible assets, while creating pathways for those assets to be licensed, commercialized and used to attract investment,” said Hon. Garmai Koboi, LIPO Director General, in a statement ahead of the workshop. “For musicians, filmmakers, writers, visual artists and other creators, the framework is expected to strengthen the environment for protecting creative works and generating economic value from them.”

Intellectual property broadly encompasses creations of the mind, including inventions, literary and artistic works, industrial designs, and brands, symbols, and names used in commerce. These creations can be protected through mechanisms such as patents, copyright, trademarks, and industrial design rights, according to Liberia’s 2016 IP Act. Globally, intellectual property has become an important part of economic policy as businesses increasingly generate value from knowledge, technology, brands, and creative content.

The NIPPS, according to LIPO, comes as the Government of Liberia has been working with creatives, micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), and other stakeholders on IP management, including protection, commercialization and enforcement, as part of its commitment under Pillar One of the ARREST Agenda.

The validation, as noted in the release, is part of a concerted government effort to encourage stakeholders to shape a national policy that places innovation, creativity and intellectual property at the heart of the ARREST Agenda’s goal of achieving economic transformation.

“The validation of the National Intellectual Property Policy and Strategy is an important step toward building an intellectual property system that works for Liberia’s economy,” Hon. Koboi added. “The government’s objective is not only to protect intellectual property, but to continuously strengthen the environment for the commercialization of intellectual property assets.”