A huge sigh of relief

....just swept through the IP profession in RSA (and the liability insurers).

"The North Gauteng High Court handed down judgment in the case of Oilwell (Pty) Limited v Protec International Limited and Others (case no. 44835/08) on 17 February 2010, ruling that a trade mark assignment agreement entered into without prior Treasury approval, does not constitute a contravention of Regulation 10(1)(c) of the Exchange Control Regulations, 1961, and that a contravention of Regulation 10(1)(c) would, in any event, not render such an assignment agreement null and void, ab initio."

Chris Job and Werina Griffiths summarise the news here. Some Afro-IP background here.

More comment to follow.