In this special World IP Day article, Prof Owen Dean revisits the theme of IP rights protection for sporting events in South African law, with a focus on the developments and the Cricket World Cup 2019 as an example. Introduction Major sports are big business and vast sums of money are involved in staging […]
Prof Owen Dean recently discussed the likelihood of legal action by Laduma Ngxokolo against fashion house Zara for infringement of the MaXhosa by Laduma designs. The interview with Prof Dean was broadcast on 702 radio as part of the Night Talk programme hosted by Gugulethu Mhlungu. You can listen to the interview here. Featured image source: http://www.maxhosa.co.za/about
It makes for the perfect ideological storm when IP law and ICT law meet and the right to freedom of expression stands in the way. Capitalist and socialist, activist and pacifist, pragmatist and idealist: differing legal experts abound in the battle for, or against, IP rights in the digital environment. Two recent developments which illustrate […]
Intangible assets constitute a major value-driver for multi-national enterprises (MNEs). This is even more so for companies that rely on valuable intangibles rather than physical assets to generate financial returns. Intangibles such as patents, design, trademarks (or brands) and copyrights are generally easy to identify, value and transfer and as such attractive for multi-national tax […]
“Critics of intellectual property law are apt to resort to sweeping generalisations about the unacceptable social costs of intellectual-property protection. First, as is the case with many issues concerning indigenous knowledge, these critics, who seek to undermine the property rights established by intellectual property law, often resort to making rather emotive, and sensational, claims, but […]
On 27 April, Freedom Day, we will pause to mark the most significant moment in South African history and commemorate the day when freedom, above all else, became the nation’s guiding principle. The day before, World IP Day, we celebrate the achievements of our brethren that influence our every-day lives and the ability of free […]
Discussion: Court of Justice of the European Union; November 10, 2016, Case 30/15, Simba/EUIPO (full text here). In this case the CJEU could further clarify how to apply the rule of European trade mark law providing that trade marks that consist exclusively of a shape or other characteristic of a product that is necessary […]
In his play “Romeo and Juliet” William Shakespeare advanced the proposition through his character Juliet: “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” What he was saying was that the flower, the rose, had intrinsic value, and, no matter what name it was given, that […]
Summary: While the Department of Trade and Industry’s recently published Intellectual Property Consultative Framework promises that future legislation will be the result of a thorough examination of the matters of concern by experts, and stakeholders, in the field, it should also consider undoing the potential damage which may have already been done to our intellectual property […]
Section 2 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996, provides that it is the supreme law of the country and that any law inconsistent with it is invalid. This provision creates the necessity to interpret the Copyright Act in a manner consistent with the Constitution at the risk of the Act, or […]
