1 May was a public holiday in RSA and in other countries too but not for CIPRO. It was the day of the merger of OCIPE with CIPRO, to form the CIPC and the implementation of the new Companies legislation said to have a profound impact on the way in which companies operate in South Africa.
The new look website is located here and a summary of its goals here.
The majority of the changes are not directly related to IP legislation. As reported earlier, there are changes to the way in which way in which company names may be objected to and the Commission boasts of new enforcement powers which, when one reads the relevant legislation, appear to be quite limited as far as IP rights (as opposed to Companies legislation) enforcement is concerned. The website has specific headings dedicated to Enforcement and Remedies and Intellectual Property Enforcement that both promote ADR but are otherwise fairly generic.
Posted by Darren
