Original news and analysis on international IP policy
CAPE TOWN - The South African National Intellectual Property Policy is expected to be published this month, after a much-anticipated wait to see what shape and form the policy has given intellectual property rights in the country.
Leader of the newly formed Renewables Club and rated as a world leader in the green energy race, South Africa has done little to secure this advantage with intellectual property rights of its own.
Cape Town, South Africa - Amid growing calls for the controversial Protection of State Information bill to be referred to the Constitutional Court of South Africa, open data activists are fighting a separate but related battle for government to release its data to the public.
Cape Town, South Africa - The draft intellectual property policy of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) has put IP rights at the centre of the region’s competitive growth strategy.
Cape Town, South Africa - Professor Charles Gielen, an insider in the epic design war between Apple and Samsung, has described the hostile standoff between the two corporate giants as a shape-shifting space for intellectual property laws following the different interpretations of IP law the case has evoked from the courts.
Johannesburg, South Africa - Africa is still held captive by colonial borders and has failed to collectively leverage benefit-sharing agreements that result from multinationals’commercial pursuit of indigenous knowledge, said speakers at the Africa IP conference this week.
Johannesburg - There are strong indications that South Africa may join – and lead the charge - in the establishment of the controversial Pan-African Intellectual Property Office (PAIPO).
Johannesburg, South Africa -- The start of the Africa IP conference was the scene of a surprise protest action by Treatment Action Campaign health activists who ambushed the stage as South African Trade and Industry Minister Rob Davies was about to welcome delegates to the three-day conference.
Botswana's new industrial property act, which came into force earlier this month, has been applauded by IP commentators as an important step in the development of a strong IP system that is in line with international trends. Copies of the new law and implementing regulations are below.
CAPE TOWN - South African health activists and pharmaceutical industry stakeholders are keeping close watch over the government's attempts to amend patent laws, which activists claim compromise the ability of the country's poor majority to access cheaper generic medicines.