Posts Tagged "Draft National Policy"

IP: Politics and Beyond

Posted on Sep 29, 2017

IP: Politics and Beyond

“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 find it difficult to substantiate their criticisms with good evidence, other than for anecdotal tales. Second, critics of intellectual property fail to realise, or acknowledge, that intellectual...

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Promotion and Protection of Investment Bill, 2013 – A Review

Posted on Feb 6, 2014

Promotion and Protection of Investment Bill, 2013 – A Review

On 1 November 2013, the South African Department of Trade and Industry published the draft “Promotion and Protection of Investment Bill” (the “Draft Bill”) for comments. The Draft Bill comes shortly after South Africa decided to unilaterally terminate its bilateral investment treaties (“BITs”) with certain European states and specifically Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxemburg, Germany, Spain and Switzerland. The Draft Bill is intended to promote investment by modernising the current investment regime and getting investors, whether foreign or local, to achieve...

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Public Health Sector and the South African National Policy on Intellectual Property

Posted on Jan 24, 2014

Public Health Sector and the South African National Policy on Intellectual Property

The publication of the South African National Policy on intellectual property (SANIPP) in September 2013 has opened a proverbial can of worms and the Pharmaceutical industry is up in arms. The SANIPP proposes the introduction of stronger IP rights through the introduction of, amongst others, pre-and post-grant opposition proceedings, and makes reference to the introduction of compulsory licensing provisions in the Patents Act.  Whilst the focus is on various industries, the matter of public health and the pharmaceutical industry forms a central theme of the SANIPP. The Innovative...

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Draft Policy on Patents – Passages from India?

Posted on Oct 22, 2013

Draft Policy on Patents – Passages from India?

Introduction The Draft National Policy on Intellectual Property (DNPIP) of South Africa was published on 4 September 2013 for public comments. Despite the fact that the DNPIP is not conducive to a systematic and consequential analysis of it and displays an alarming lack of understanding and/or knowledge of existing South African IP law one cannot overlook the repetitive element of requirement for “stronger patents” which the DNPIP states will be achieved through implementation of a search and examination system as well as pre- and post-grant opposition proceedings. There are different...

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