Hey man, why the long face?

A horse walks into a bar and the barman asks him: "hey man why the long face?"

Funny…maybe.

Well, the same question may be asked when an IP attorney returns after even a few hours in a typical due diligence room; those soulless rooms containing the innards of corporate value and identity.

Bars are generally wary of horses, and the question and answer is so ludicrous and obvious at the same time that it is funny, except if you are a thirsty horse. Still searching for the link?

Almost all companies own a bundle of very valuable IP that they, their corporate advisors, the banks and employees very often do not know exists, or fail to appreciate or understand if they do. Due diligence rooms are therefore usually so devoid in their recordal of IP that an IP attorney is very prone to displaying, well, horse like tendencies after a visit.

It is refreshing then to come across this link to a company involved in the mining sector that very clearly values and understands its own IP:

Alexander has made steady progress in advancing its plan to commercialise its proprietary breakthrough AmmLeach® mineral processing technology [in the Chairman’s opening sentence!].


In South Africa [relevant] - AmmLeach® [trade mark awareness, nice] copper/cobalt demonstration pilot plan established in collaboration [licensing, good] with MC Process Pty Ltd [local company, tech transfer].


In DRC [relevant] - Patent [yes, protection exists] for a Method of Ammoniacal Leaching granted.


Because of confidentiality agreements [wow], disclosure has been restricted to those opportunities where we are able to put the news into the public domain… which has enabled us to create an invaluable database of know-how and intellectual property [the Holy Grail]….we have already agreed the principle of granting a licence in exchange for a gross sales royalty [$value, no way] and to provide any necessary technical assistance with the project development.

For many readers this post may seem ridiculous. Nay! it is a fact that corporate IP awareness remains very low, especially in Africa, and that is a significant challenge to the understanding how IP is valuable to both the private and public sectors. It is also one of the reasons why the mere mention of IP can create strong division in Africa.

So shout it LOUD, even if you go horse!

INTA reports

Just back from a typically busy INTA schedule, Afro Leo now issues his annual report on three gatherings for this blog:

First is the African regional update which was back on the agenda in 2012 after a surprising omission the previous year and a call to action from this blog. The panel consisting of Gift Sibanda, Mike Sevant and the animated Prof Ephraim Ngwafor was chaired by Marco Van Der Merwe in front of audience of around 65 in hall 147 AB of the Convention Centre in Washington. Afro Leo went into tweet mode to cover the speed dating session with over 50 African countries, and the flow can be located at @afroip or by this search ''#INTADC #Africa'' in the twittersphere. For previous Africa Regional Updates covered by this blog in 2008, 2009 and 2010 click here, here and here.



Mark Mordi's disquiet over the Forum



The second gathering was one called by Prof Bankole Sodipo in a room in the Embassy Suites to discuss the future of the now cancelled African IP Summit/Forum. The turnout was impressive not by the amount of people (roughly 60 odd) but because almost all of them were from Africa. The initial discussion was dominated by outrage at the lack of communication and transparency between the 2011 meeting (see here) and notification of Forum late last year by the CLDP which took most of those present, including Afro Leo, by complete surprise. The meeting settled after the CLDP's Nnamdi Ezera offered up explanations. Bankole then outlined the following suggested mode of action:

• Communication of further attempts to arrange the Forum would be communicated via email to those who presented business cards and via "captains" for each country (selected from those present)
• The three gentlemen (Sibande, Sodipo and Mallowah) who addressed the meeting would form a secretariat
• Stephen Mallowah would take the lead in disseminating information
• a meeting planned for September in Tanzania would be a further step toward developing an agenda by Africans for the event

Nnamdi explained that if CDP's efforts to plan the ill fated 2011 Summit/Forum could form the basis of a future event, he would be happy and gets credit for sponsoring the room to host the meeting.



Spot the Leos (pic TTAB blog)

The third gathering of note was the 8th "Meet the Bloggers" event which took place last Monday night from 8-10 pm at Hill Country Barbeque Market. Marty Schwimmer (http://www.trademarkblog.com/), Ron Coleman (www.likelihoodofconfusion.com), Erik Pelton (http://www.erikpelton.com/), and John Welch (www.TTABlog.com) of hosted the event which attracted over 200 registered attendees. Afro-IP received a public mention from Marty which made this Leo purr loudly and Jeremy jump up and down. Thanks for the beer gents!

Finally, just a note from @_INTA ''President Mazzorro: INTA will be increasing its focus in Africa''. Life is good.

A to Z of African official IP websites no.48: Swaziland

The 48th stop on Kingsley Egbuonu's trek around Africa's official intellectual property websites takes him to Swaziland. Although that country has a bright and colourful flag, its internet presence is sadly a good deal less bright.  This is what Kingsley has to report:

Overview

Swaziland is a Contracting Party to a number of treaties on intellectual property including the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property and the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works. Swaziland is also a Member State of ARIPO.

Copyright Office

• The Intellectual Property Office (Ministry of Commerce Industry and Trade) is the competent office responsible for copyright and related rights in Swaziland. 

• This office currently has no website of its own, but some information can be found on the Ministry’s own website here.

Industrial Property Office

• Currently same as above.

Social Media Presence

None found.

Intellectual Property update in Swaziland

Afro-IP has reported on various developments of practical significance in recent times including posts here, here and here.

Conclusion

Afro-IP is usually unsurprised to see a member state of OAPI or ARIPO without a website for its IP office. For example, we have seen Lesotho, Liberia, Guinea and Côte d'Ivoire, to name but a few, all currently have no web presence for their respective IP offices.

On other things interesting, Swaziland is yet another African country to which UK IP right owners can extend their existing protection and although facing extremely difficult times, it is currently undergoing a nation branding exercise with a view to attract foreign investors.

We wish Swaziland well but hope that it can at least see how its nation branding project – which engaged a group of individuals from various local marketing and brand consultancy companies -- revolves around IP.

Kingsley tweets as @IPinAfrica

2012 Global Congress on Intellectual Property and the Public Interest

The 2012 Global Congress on Intellectual Property and the Public Interest may be taking place across the ocean in Brazil, but there is still lots of IP goodness for Africa in the conference’s filling.

This year’s theme is Setting the Positive Agenda in Motion.  Catchy. The positive agenda mentioned here is the action agenda developed at the first Global Congress on Intellectual Property and the Public Interest, which was held last year.  Sessions and discussions will focus on how to us IP as a tool for development and include workshops as well as presentations.

Set sessions include:

• Regulating Intellectual Property
• Valuing Openness and the Public Domain
• Strengthening Limitations and Exceptions as Enabling Tools for Innovation and Expression
• Setting Public Interest Priorities for Patent and Research and Development Reform
• Supporting Cultural Creativity
• Checking Enforcement Excesses
• Implementing Development Agendas
• Targeted Research

Presentation slots are still open, and there’s even a set of topics on which presenters are being sought.  Afro-Leo knows a number of great IP attorneys on the continent who could present on “the ecology of access to education materials.”

More information on the conference can be found here.  The conference is from 15 – 17 December.  Registration is currently open with a deadline of 1 August for presenters and those requesting travel or funding assistance.

If any of Afro-Leo’s readers are able to attend, we would love to have a report back to share!

Hat tip to Primah Kwagala for bringing the 2012 Global Congress to Afro-Leo’s attention.

Photo credit:  This photo of a Brazil’s forests through a cave opening in Poço Azul that happens to be shaped a lot like Africa is called “Brazil” by Denise Mayumi licensed under CC-BY, available on Flickr.

A to Z of African official IP websites no.47: Sudan

It's now week 47 and Kingsley Egbuonu's marathon trek round Africa's many and varied nations, in search of official intellectual property websites, has now taken him across the border from South Sudan to the nation which formerly governed that territory, Sudan itself. Kingsley reports thus:

Overview

Sudan is a Contracting Party to a number of treaties on intellectual property including the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property and the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works. Sudan is also an ARIPO Member State.

Copyright Office

• The Federal Council for Literary and Artistic Works (Ministry of Culture and Youth and Sports) is the competent office responsible for copyright and related rights in Sudan. 

• This office currently has no website.

Industrial Property Office

• The Office of the Registrar General of Sudan (Ministry of Justice) is the competent office responsible for the administration of intellectual property rights in Sudan. 

• The website for this office is www.ipsudan.gov.sd and it is in Arabic.

Social Media Presence

None found.

Intellectual Property update in Sudan

Afro-IP has reported on various developments of practical significance in recent times: see here, here, here and here

Conclusion

Similarly to South Sudan, Sudan has its own problems -- but there is a website for its intellectual property office. Albeit not up-to-date, the website has a lot of relevant information worthy of praise; they include: legislations, forms, fees and even a few case laws.

Afro-IP also got to learn of the excellent work done by the Agricultural Research Corporation (ARC) the www.arcsudan.sd towards ensuring that the future and sustainability of the agricultural sector in Sudan – which employs a significant number of its population despite its oil revenues.

By creating and encouraging a favourable environment for intellectual property rights, through its IP office, the Sudanese government will also be assisting with the work of the ARC.

Kingsley tweets as @IPinAfrica

The Gambia focuses on IP

Home to 1.7 million people (wikipedia)

It might be Africa's smallest country but The Gambia is busy setting itself up as an IP hub. A recent two day event organised by WIPO and ARIPO in conjunction with The Gambia government was tasked with formulating a National Intellectual Property Policy and Strategy document.

According to an AllAfrica report (Amie Sanneh) Attorney General and Minister of Justice Lamin Jobarteh expressed that:

"Instead the development of societies and states are increasingly driven by the knowledge and skills of its people and the ability to harness and exploit its knowledge and resources"

The article states that "The Justice Minister explained that in the past two years, his department embarked on an intensive effort to clear the heavy backlog of intellectual property publications in the national gazette. He said it has now started printing the intellectual property certificates to its rightful holders. In January 2011, said Minister Jobarteh, the industry property regulations came into force which simplifies the gazetting and registration procedures for registration of industrial property. He stated further that the Copyright Office also formulated the first set of draft copyright regulations on registration of works which were adopted. Registration of works made in the Gambia began in the second quarter of 2011, he said."

Also speaking at the opening was Francoise Wege, Deputy Director, Regional Bureau for Africa, WIPO who spoke on behalf of the Director General of WIPO.

A to Z of African official IP websites no.46: South Sudan

It's now week 46 and Kingsley Egbuonu has landed in a jurisdiction that was not even in existence as an independent state this time last year -- Africa's newest country, South Sudan.  It seems that the fledgling country is making a huge effort at this early stage. Let Kingsley explain in his own words:

"Overview 

The Republic of South Sudan is yet to become a member of WIPO and to ratify any of the treaties administered by it. 

Copyright Office 

• The Directorate of Registration of Businesses, Associations and NGOs (Ministry of Justice) is the competent office responsible for copyright and related rights in South Sudan. 

• The website for this office is www.mojss.org. 

Industrial Property Office 

• The Directorate of Registration of Businesses, Associations and NGOs (Ministry of Justice) is the competent office responsible for the administration of intellectual property rights in South Sudan. 

• The website for this office is www.mojss.org. 

Social Media Presence 

None found. 

Intellectual Property update in South Sudan 

Afro-IP has reported on various developments of practical significance since 2011 and these can be found here, here and here.

Conclusion 

Less than a year old, South Sudan’s independent existence is still at risk and this may hamper much-needed solid legal foundations to function properly -- intellectual property being the least of its worries. However and not surprising is that this hasn’t prevented China from investing in the country -- and this is more likely to be good news than bad for the people of South Sudan. 

Afro-IP is pleased to at least find that the Ministry of Justice in South Sudan has an informative website and the same Ministry will apparently be in charge of IP administration and/or development. Out of interest, Afro-IP found out that the Government of South Sudan-- @RepSouthSudan --is actually tweeting away on Twitter.   

We are equally glad to learn here and here that the Government of the Republic of South Sudan has made the protection of intellectual property rights one of its specific investment policies in order to attract investment in the country. Further, if the Investment Promotion Act of 2009 is anything to go by, then paragraph 35 states that 

“The Government shall protect the intellectual property rights of all persons and investors in Southern Sudan and shall enforce rights to trade marks, copyrights, patents and other intellectual property rights in accordance with any related international conventions to which the Republic of the Sudan is a signatory.” 

When this is read together with Article 28 of the Transitional Constitution of the Republic of South Sudan (2011), then it is also evidently safe to say that IP protection is in the letter and spirit of the law in South Sudan to convince IP owners. 

Without getting carried away, one thing is for sure: South Sudan will be starting on a fresh page in setting its IP regime; everyone, including Afro-IP, will be watching to see whether it will create one which is bespoke – without alienating minimum international standards -- or one which copies another word-for-word. 

Afro-IP hopes to keep readers up-to-date with IP developments in South Sudan. For Laws and Policies of South Sudan see here -- and here is a brochure for the IP Registry in South Sudan".

Kinglsey tweets as @IPinAfrica

Santam's "back at ya" redeeming

Santam have dealt with the latest spoof ad by Nando's with an excellent retort of their own. They have already won over the public according to Twitter feedback. Nandos, in turn, have apparently graciously met Santam's delivery demand a day before the deadline and made a promise to do it every month for a year!

Everyone is a winner, except maybe the lawyers.

We like to think that this post on Afro-IP commenting on Santam's previous retort to a spoof ad played a part.

"Perhaps, with all the creative talent we have in this country, all those billable hours could have been spent on devising a tasteful retort? The South African public tends to respond well to that sort of thing – remember BMW’s brilliant “Beat the Bends” come back? (see here) ..." 

"..but one cannot help feel too, that Jeremy [Speres] has a point: what would you do if you were Santam or Ben for that matter?"

If so, it would not be the first time this blog has effected change and a timely reminder to those attending next month's INTA meeting to support the Africa session organised by Spoor & Fisher. The Africa session was put back on the program at the request of Afro-IP here.

Fewer Orphans in Sudan?

A few weeks ago, this Little Leo had the opportunity to attend a conference on orphan works sponsored by a local law school. It was a good conference in many ways and participants represented a diverse array of copyright perspectives.  As discussions about defining and solving the orphan works problem progressed, two themes took center stage: “here’s what Europe’s been doing,” “here’s what the US has been doing.” 

The solution-seekers should look a little broader in their quest for ideas. One place to start is the Sudanese Copyright Act.

There are lots of different aspects to what has been dubbed “the orphan works problem.” And there is not a consensus on exactly what fits into that basket and what’s left strewn on the table waiting for the next basket.  One of the situations that falls into some iterations of this basket is those works where the author is known and known to be deceased but the current rightsholder is unknown. The Sudanese Copyright Act has a provision that deals specifically with this issue.

Authors can dispose of their economic copyrights as they see fit via their will. This includes prohibiting publication or setting a future publication date for unpublished works.  However, “where the author dies intestate or leaves no heir the Minister may order that the work shall be in public domain.” (Art. 20(2).)

Wills provide a written record that is generally recorded at a probate office or other such registry. This makes tracking down the new owner a bit easier. Passing copyright ownership to others via testamentary disposition is not very unusual in copyright acts. However, having a means for works to enter the public domain when the author dies intestate is unusual. – At least this Little Leo hasn’t come across it before.

Intestate succession often results in the dividing of assets among many heirs. By allowing the work to enter the public domain instead of falling under multi-party ownership, the Sudanese Copyright Act prevents that work from being held in the unlicensable, unusable state of orphan works.*

When authors die without an heir, having their works enter the public domain actually aligns with how tangible property is generally treated. In fact, this exact treatment of copyrighted works was suggested at the orphan works conference by Lydia Loren who sees the public as the remainderman when it comes to intellectual property. Sudan’s copyright act may be a great place to start for exploring this further.

*Since a person can usually only have heirs if the person dies intestate (as opposed to beneficiaries of a will), the phrase “dies intestate or leaves no heir” is a bit confusing. I’ve chosen not to address this here since that would make the post too long.

NAFDAC, trade marks and trade reps in Nigeria: some guidance

Under current regulations of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), product owners who want to export into Nigeria without being physically present can do so through a representative. Typically, the representative will be a local individual or organisation already trading in regulated food or drug products locally, as NAFDAC requires representatives to possess the facilities to effect a recall of products when necessary. NAFDAC will require additional documents to be presented by the representative prior to registration, including a Power of Attorney from the manufacturer and a certificate of trade mark registration from the Nigerian Trade Marks Registry. The seemingly innocuous trademark registration requirement has proven to be a thorny issue for many manufacturers who eventually decide to establish a greater physical presence in Nigeria.

A straightforward trade mark application will usually take between 12 and 24 months to complete in Nigeria. NAFDAC accommodates this difficulty by accepting the Notice of Acceptance issued by the Trade Marks Registry, usually issued (upon acceptance of an application) 3 to 5 weeks after the trade mark application is filed. There are usually no later complications if the manufacturer has already filed a trade mark application or already holds a registration for its trade mark in Nigeria.

It occurs frequently, however, that the representative undertakes the trade mark application, many times in its own name rather than the manufacturer’s. This is of little import to many manufacturers at the beginning of the manufacturer-representative relationship, as they may indeed have initially been approached by the representative or are tentatively testing the Nigerian market.

However, many such new products are received very well by the market, convincing manufacturers that it would be even more profitable to establish a local plant or a subsidiary to handle local distribution on a larger scale. Many representatives, feeling that they were instrumental to growing the product in the Nigerian market, feel aggrieved at being “jettisoned” by manufacturers and hold on to the business for as long as they can. One of the tactics they employ is to refuse to assign the trademark to the manufacturer, technically making any product subsequently imported by the manufacturer a counterfeit or a parallel import. It is clear therefore that it is essential to plan for the success of a product in the market at the very beginning of the manufacturer-representative relationship. The following solutions should be considered:

1. The term (length) of the distribution agreement between the parties should be as short as is commercially expedient. It is best for the manufacturer not to enter into an agreement that is too lengthy, to ensure that effective control is retained and a decision to personally operate in the market can be executed without excessive delays.  

2. While it is understandable that a manufacturer may not want to incur fees associated with trade mark registration in an unproven market, it is best that the manufacturer registers its trade mark in any country in which it intends to distribute its goods. Otherwise, the distribution agreement with the representative should compel the representative to register the trade mark in the manufacturer’s name or compel the representative to assign the trade mark to the manufacturer upon demand.

Source: "Trademark Issues in Food and Drug Registration and Distribution in Nigeria", Trenchard Partners Newsletter, 23 April 2012

A to Z of African official IP websites no.45: South Africa

It's now week 45 of Kingsley Egbuonu's almost interminable alphabetical trek round the official IP websites of African nations. But the end is in sight and it won't be so long before we're into the 'Z's. This week it's the turn of South Africa -- a country which makes a great deal more use of the internet than do many other developing jurisdictions. Kingsley reports as follows:

Overview 

South Africa is a Contracting Party to a number of treaties on intellectual property (IP) including the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property and the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works. 

Copyright Office 

• The Companies and Intellectual Property Commission (CIPC) is the competent office responsible for copyright and related rights in South Africa. 

• The website for this office is www.cipc.co.za. 

Industrial Property Office 

• The Companies and Intellectual Property Commission (CIPC) is the competent office responsible for the administration of industrial property rights in South Africa. 

• The website for this office is www.cipc.co.za. • The CIPC maintains two IP databases: a free one for public users and another which is fee-based for professional users 

Social Media Presence 

No official presence found. 

Intellectual Property update in South Africa 

No recent update found. 

Conclusion 

The websites that we found for South Africa’s IP office are customer-focused, well organised and appear user-friendly; but more importantly, they have an IP search facility. 

But are these findings entirely surprising? The answer should be in negative. South Africa is the biggest economy in Africa by GDP and represents Africa within the BRICS. Other factors include a vibrant intellectual property community in the South Africa Institute of Intellectual Property Law (SAIIPL), which is more active than its counterparts in Africa. No wonder that South Africa has numerous informed domestic laws concerning IP, including this eye-catching piece of legislation titled: Intellectual Property Rights from Publicly Financed Research and Development Act No. 51 of 2008 and that the first-ever Africa IP summit -–now postponed-- was scheduled to be held in Cape Town. 

Still surprised? You shouldn’t be. Rather ask yourself who is Afro-IP’s blogmeister. In all, this shows that a lively and serious IP community in any country would help towards respect, better development and promotion of IP in that particular country. Although Afro-IP would like to see South Africa’s IP office on social media platforms such as Twitter and LinkedIn, its website is the best we have seen thus far in the A-Z series. South Africa is truly a country which sees IP as important as other tools for its economic development.

Kingsley tweets as @IPinAfrica

Kenya's controversial anti-counterfeiting law "too broad"

You can have
both: Michel Sidibé 

In "Kenyan High Court’s Overturning Of Anti-Counterfeit Law Hailed", 21 April 2012, Intellectual Property Watch reported that, last Friday, 20 April, the High Court of Kenya ruled that the country’s controversial Anti-Counterfeit Act, which was passed in 2008, was too broad and could interfere with the flow of legal generic medicines to patients. The court added that intellectual property rights should not be put before life and health.

 “A vast majority of people in Kenya rely on quality generic drugs for their daily survival. Through this important ruling, the High Court of Kenya has upheld a fundamental element of the right to health,” 

UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibé said in a release, noting that it was possible to have both generic drugs and strong anti-counterfeit laws.

Giving judgment in the High Court, Judge Mumbi Ngugi described the Act as being vague and said that it could undermine access to affordable generic medicines since it failed to distinguish clearly between counterfeit and generic medicines.

For earlier Afro-IP posts in this legislation click here, here, here, here and here

Morocco takes a closer look at IP and the electronic press

The Moroccan Ministry of Communication has recently organized a study day in Rabat on the electronic press in order to modernize the sector and to build a legal framework. According to Communication Minister Mustapha El Khalfi

""... the number of internet subscribers has reached 3.2 million, while the total number of those using the internet is at 16 million, and under that mode Morocco became an industry leader at the Arab, African and Mediterranean level.  Morocco is suffering in this field from a legal vacuum and the absence of clear public policy allowing this rising and promising sector to flourish,.  We have a paradox--on the one hand there is digital progress, and on the other there are political, legal and managerial shortcomings. The government is looking to launch a new era for this field on the basis of freedom and responsibility and is convinced of the fact that this sector, in which young people are active, is an opportunity to enhance the competitiveness of Morocco in this aspect". 

The President of the Moroccan Association for Electronic Journalism, Adil Klei, alluded specifically to IP in his observation that electronic media regulation has three key areas: intellectual property and journalistic ethics, specialized training for electronic journalism and the maintenance of a professional environment through legal institutions.

Source: Talal Abu-Ghazaleh March News, released 18 April 2012

A to Z of African official IP websites no.44: Somalia

The 44th stop on Afro-IP's tour of official African intellectual property websites takes Kingsley Egbuonu to war-torn Somalia, where the prospect of peace and ensuing stability is something for which we all fervently hope and pray.

Overview

The Convention Establishing the World Intellectual Property Organization and the Lusaka Agreement on the Creation of the African Regional Intellectual Property Organization (ARIPO) are two significant intellectual property treaties currently ratified by Somalia. The latter grants it membership.

Copyright Office

• The Copyright Office (Ministry of Culture and Higher Education) is the competent office responsible for copyright and related rights in Somalia. 

• The office has no website.

Industrial Property Office

• The Patents and Trade Marks Office (Ministry of Industry) is the competent office responsible for the administration of intellectual property rights (IPRs) in Somalia. 

• This office has no website.

Social Media Presence

None

Intellectual Property update in Somalia

None

Conclusion

Afro-IP often comes across misinformation in respect of the state of intellectual property system in certain countries in Africa. The current state of affairs is that Somalia is neither a member of Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) , nor a party to the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works.

Like country no:43 (Sierra Leone), Somalia has face major problems in consequence of its civil war, and the same sense of measure and caution expressed for that country applies here too.

Afro-IP can only wish the Transitional Federal Government all the best in ensuring political stability in Somalia. With stability, Somalia can move on again to play its part in the international community – including membership of the WTO and ratifying related treaties which encourage foreign direct investment and IP.

Despite the constant sad headlines, there is some positive news of progress in Somalia reported here by the BBC.

Kingsley tweets as @IPinAfrica

Social Entrepreneurs - the importance of IP

Making money is essential and can also be fun. However, it is rarely satisfying simply for the sake of it. Making a difference, creating social change for the better is extremely rewarding and fun, but not essential to live - one has to eat or support a family. One of the best aspects of working in Africa is that there is an abundance of opportunity to do both; make a difference and make money. Indeed firms like Discovery are so good at it as to be revolutionary. This article explains the rise of the social entrepreneur and how and why they are being "leveraged" to do business in Africa.

Structuring IP, specifically its ownership and use, in the types of business relationships envisaged by the article is not only extremely important but also requires creative thought that extends beyond typical licensing models for trade marks, copyright, patents and know-how. From an awareness of how to protect a trade mark from the damaging effects of genericism (so common to new technologies) to using and protecting IP in open source innovation environments, an understanding of IP and how it can help is not only crucial to making the model work, but a vital part of the ensuring that social change is permanent, encouraged and rewarding, in its wider sense, for both stakeholders. The investor's role in ensuring that a fair deal is reached when "leveraging" the entrepreneur will assist in sustaining the model.