Judge Louis Harms, who is currently making headlines for his NPA v Zuma judgment in the Supreme Court of Appeal, has been appointed Deputy President of that Court. This bodes well for the future of IP judgments in South Africa, as Judge Harms is the most influential, and respected, South African judge in IP matters, and has been responsible for most of the seminal SA IP judgments in the last decade.
Judge Harms has also accepted the position of Professor Extraordinary at the University of the Free State, and the article based on his inaugural lecture is compulsory reading for all IP practitioners. The title ‘ A few negative trends in the field of intellectual property rights’ says it all, and his analysis of the proposed IP Laws Amendment Bill of 2007, which will allegedly protect all traditional knowledge, is scathing. It can be found in the most recent issue of the Journal for Contemporary Roman-Dutch Law (Tydskrif vir Hedendaagse Romeins-Hollandse Reg) 2009 (72) THRHR 1.
Photo: Stephen Collett
