Posts Tagged "EU"

IP Public Lecture 2018 – Patent Enforcement Lessons for SA Policy Development

Posted on Jul 22, 2018

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 More

Beating About The Rooibos

Posted on Feb 11, 2013

Beating About The Rooibos

It is a fact of life that attempts have been made in certain other countries to usurp control of the term or mark ROOIBOS, despite the fact that it is a well-known South African description for a particular plant which gives rise to ROOIBOS tea.  The term ROOIBOS is as typically South African as “braaivleis” and “biltong”.  It is really part of our South African heritage.  The South African authorities have nonetheless taken no concrete or effective steps to protect and control the use of this term in South Africa or elsewhere. Probably the first attempt to hijack ROOIBOS in...

Read More

EU Extension of Copyright Protection for Sound Recordings: a Blessing or Blunder?

Posted on Sep 15, 2011

EU Extension of Copyright Protection for Sound Recordings: a Blessing or Blunder?

This week the EU extended copyright protection for performers and record producers from 50 to 70 years. The EU Council’s justification for the extension – performers often start their careers young, and the current 50-year term means that many are not protected for their entire lifetimes and may be cut off from sources of income at the stage they need it the most. Not everybody is jumping for joy. Intellectual Property Watch reports that eight EU member states (notably Belgium, Czech Republic, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia and Sweden) voted against the extension. The Open Rights Group (ORG) do not mince words and label the extension “a cultural disaster”.

Read More