After months of silence on the topic, both within South Africa and beyond, this Leo's ears perked up at the mention of PAIPO in the media statement. The Minister had this to say about the subject:
'Harmonisation of Laws should take place in Africa. The Proposed Pan African Intellectual Property Office (PAIPO) is fully supported by South Africa as it will lead to IP being dealt with uniformly. We are hoping that the areas of disagreement will be ironed out soon. [I'd love to know what these areas are and the stances which countries have adopted on these issues. Pray tell.] South Africa is seeking to use the patent related flexibilities as set out in the TRIPS agreement of WTO [does this sentence have anything to do with the previous sentences on PAIPO? If so, are there some countries that are not keen on using flexibilities?That would be a shocker].'
