IP policies in Africa no.53: Zambia

Zambia adopted a national IP policy in 2010, which, surprisingly, is not publicly available either on WIPOLex or Zambian government websites. However, it should be possible to obtain the policy from the Ministry of Commerce, Trade and Industry.  This Leo got her paws on a copy but she cannot publish it here or distribute further in any other way (read: 'don't ask me for a copy').

You can trust a Leo with a secret
source

The policy contains an overview of then current law, a statement of the country's vision and goals for IP, a synopsis of related national policies, a discussion of guiding principles and a ten-year implementation framework. The policy also discusses country's aspirations with regard to the protection of traditional knowledge and new plant varieties.

In addition, Zambia is a COMESA member state and subscribes to the regional body's IP policy.


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See Zambia's WIPOLex entry here
See a news report about the launch of Zambia's IP policy here (link no longer available)