The document consists of a report of an IP Audit for Botswana and a strategy road-map for the development of a national IP policy. The road-map identifies and lists key projects that have to be implemented but does not state specific dates for their completion , it is thus not possible to predict when a policy will be in place.
The authors do not presume to tell Botswana what to include in the IP policy but give a lot of sound recommendations as to how it should be formulated and what its aims ought to be. They write:
- ' it is essential to recap that, while essentially everyone in a society is a user of IP; equally almost everyone in society is a potential creator of IP' (p16 Executive Summary);
- 'the process of designing a feasible NIPDP requires a broad-based consultative process involving all stakeholder groups: IP creators, IP law legislators, IP law enforcers, and users of products protected under IP law' (p4 main report ); and
- 'Overall, the IP regulatory framework should create a win-win situation for the IP creators and IP users' (p24 main report).
Only time will tell how this advice is taken on board and what the resultant IP policy will look like. This Leo awaits further developments with bated breath.
