NEW Traditional Knowledge Bill – Sui Generis Protection for TK
If you cannot beat them, join them. For that reason this Chair of IP has decided to announce a NEW sui generis Protection of Traditional Knowledge Bill in the hope that something may yet be done to save us all. Government’s current attempt at protecting traditional knowledge by amending current IP statutes remains an unmitigated disaster, the scope of which is yet to be fully realised. This Chair, among many others, has expressed its distress at the current Traditional Knowledge Bill (likely to be the Protection of Traditional Knowledge Act soon) in no uncertain terms. And despite the...
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 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...
Read MoreTRADITIONAL KNOWLEDGE – Legislation in the NEW tradition
“Ex Africa semper aliquid novi”, which can be freely translated from Latin to mean “there is always something new coming out of Africa”, said Pliny, the ancient Roman writer and scholar. Presumably then, as is the case now, the concept of “new” included an expression of sarcasm and deprecation as in “absurd, nonsensical and ridiculous”. Well, Pliny has been proved right once again. The Government is on the threshold of passing legislation to grant protection of, and the facility to derive revenue from the use of, so-called “traditional knowledge” (TK) – i.e. folklore,...
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