IP Public Lecture 2018 – Patent Enforcement Lessons for SA Policy Development
THIS EVENT IS NOW CLOSED Watch the video of the lecture below. The annual Intellectual Property Law Public Lecture, presented by the Chair of IP Law and the Faculty of Law, will take place on 16 August 2018. Prof. Dr. Christoph Ann will deliver the lecture on the topic Patent Enforcement – lessons for SA policy development. He will discuss the link between a meaningful patent system and the ability to effectively enforce patent rights. In light of the proposed changes to the South African patent system, his topic is particularly relevant and will include lessons learned by the EU patent...
Read MoreThe Mad Hatter in Wonderland
So, the Department of Trade and Industry (“DTI”) has finally gone ahead and done it. It has caused the Government to pass the Intellectual Property Laws Amendment Bill (the so-called “Traditional Knowledge Bill”) despite vociferous objections from all quarters. It has rushed headlong into terrain where no angel would venture through acute trepidation. It has entered Wonderland and assumed the role of the Mad Hatter. ”rushed headlong into terrain where no angel would venture through acute trepidation” The Vine Oracle (that is to be found in the vineyards of the Winelands)...
Read MoreCopyright: The Photographers Plight
The Vine Oracle recently chatted to a professional photographer and had occasion to reflect on the treatment meted out to this group by our Copyright law. Apparently freelance photography in South Africa is not the lucrative business it appears to be– quite the contrary. Copyright is supposed to allow creators of original works to make money by commercialising their works. Copyright is failing freelance photographers on this count. Why you ask? Remember that copyright comes into being automatically (provided of course the other requirements for subsistence of copyright are present) –...
Read MoreACTA – a sting in the tail for IP rights enforcement
Surreptitious negotiations, covert drafts, leaked documents and swift announcements at the eleventh-hour – such is the stranger-than-fiction story of the ‘Piracy Treaty’ signed by several world powers in the past week. Amid controversy about the autocratic role of the USA in the drafting process, and the not-so-voluntary gist of the treaty, most of the Allied Powers have signed the treaty, including Australia, New Zealand and Canada. The other signatories are Japan, South Korea, Morocco and Singapore, while the EU, Mexico and Switzerland have indicated their willingness to accede to the...
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