Friday 29 May 2015

Afro Leo

Misuse of trade secrets and more #SandtonDiscussion - JRMM Technologies v Ball

This Monday's 9am (GMT+2) #SandtonDiscussion arranged by Lita is being lead by Reinhardt Biermann who will cover the recent case of JRMM Technologies v Ball involving:

  • misuse of trade secrets, passing off and confidential information
  • decisions between action and application court procedures
  • the importance of choosing business partners correctly
  • how not to spend your start up funds
all in the context of a new business for importing and distributing rock crushing equipment for use in mines. And if you think there is nothing secret about a rock crusher check this out.

The #SandtonDiscussion hashtag enables to you comment on, partake and follow previous discussions even after they have taken place. 

Some action from this week (if there is nothing below then the embed is not working, please check the blog):
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Thursday 28 May 2015

Caroline B Ncube

Comments on South Africa's Protection, Promotion, Development and Management of Indigenous Knowledge Systems Bill, 2014

Since the call for comments on this bill (noted here), the following comments have been published:

  1. The International Trademark Association (INTA)'s comments are available here 
  2. The UCT IP Unit  has posted comments (here) co-authored by Tobias Schonwetter (UCT),  Lesle Jansen (Natural Justice) and Laura Foster (Indiana University). 
  3. The Anton Mostert Chair in IP at Stellenbosch University has posted comments by Sadulla Karjiker (here) and Madeline Kleyn (here)  


Amongst other concerns, INTA notes the potential negative impact of  a 'the co-existence of traditional knowledge and traditional cultural expressions with trademark rights' and implores the creation of a system that is 'consistent with the well-established intellectual property principles of territoriality, exclusivity, priority, and notice' (p. 1). All the other comments are unanimous in their  view that the sui generis approach to the protection of TK advanced by the bill is a better approach than that provided for by the IP Laws Amendment Act. However, they all point out concerns about the Bill in its current form. In my view, one of the most pressing of these is how this Bill, if it it passed, will relate to the IP protection provided by the various IP statutes as amended by the IP Laws Amendment Act. The UCT IP Unit submission notes that South Africa will have a mixed approach [that offers the option of either IP or sui generis protection] that may cause tensions 'among and within indigenous communities' about the selection of  protection for their TK (p. 3).    Dr Kleyn, on the other hand, is of the view that such a mixed approach is not feasible because 'the two separate systems of protection for IK provided for in these two pieces of legislation cannot co-exist.' Therefore she recommends that the 'IKS Bill should upon promulgation repeal the IPLA Act' (p. 14). 

It will be interesting to see how discussions on this Bill develop both in and outside parliament.
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For more discussion, see Linda Daniels 'A Cautious Welcome For South Africa’s Traditional Knowledge Legislation'
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Friday 22 May 2015

Afro Leo

Join us on Twitter for the #SandtonDiscussion every Monday

For the past eight months Afro Leo has been attending internal discussion sessions on IP managed and run by Lita Mita-Qamata. These discussions, presented on a rotational basis, cover the latest and most relevant trade mark cases in local and foreign courts. Other participants include John Ndlovu, Ian Learmonth, Nic Rosslee, Maureen Thuto MakokoEric Mashida and Reinhardt Biermann.

You are now also invited to join us each Monday at 09:00 GMT + 2 by tracking the conversation at #SandtonDiscussion on Twitter and contributing. What will happen is as follows:
  •  each Friday we will communicate the case intended for discussion on the Monday
  •  the leader of the discussion will prepare and present on the Monday
This Monday's case will that of the recent UK Supreme Court decision  Starbucks (HK) Limited v British Sky Broadcasting Group PLC which makes direct reference to the South African Caterham trade mark decision in deciding a case involving internet protocol television. Find out how South African law of passing off differs from that in force in the UK, and what effect this may have on common law jurisdictions in Africa.

The case will be presented by Ian.

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Thursday 7 May 2015

Jeremy

ARIPO, OAPI attend INTA in San Diego -- but there is still further to go

This year's International Trademark Association (INTA) Meeting in San Diego, California, is now over and the nearly 10,000 registrants are wending their way home.  For many of our African colleagues this means taking two or three flights and experiencing a second major bout of jetlag in a single week. Afro Leo wishes them all a safe trip home and hopes that the experience was a positive one for them.

It is good to see Africa being represented at INTA not only by the many practitioners who have put aside their daily workload in order to travel and participate.  Both ARIPO and OAPI (in alphabetical order) took display booths in the INTA Exhibit Hall and were able to provide useful advice to those who sought it.

ARIPO now has 19 member states, plus 12 states with observer status, while OAPI has 17.  This is very encouraging, for those of us who remember what things were like 30 or 40 years ago, but it indicates that Africa as a regional concept still has a considerable distance to travel if it is able to achieve the sort of functional efficiency and cost-saving that is enjoyed by other regions in the world. Let's hope that we won't have to wait too long to see those benefits.


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Saturday 2 May 2015

IPcommentator

INTA Annual Meeting 2015 - once again features IP in Africa

WIPO’s filing statistics (2014) unsurprisingly tell us that the African continent’s share in the global trade mark activity in 2013 is higher (guess year-on-year) than its share for the other registrable IP rights compared in that same year. Trade mark = 2.4%; Industry design = 1.2%; Patent = 0.6%; and Utility model = 0.02%. Surely, the corporate world (or to be precise, multinational brand owners) isn't neglecting the trend here – which is likely to remain so for the next decade.

Fancy a chillaxing time here?
The 137th Annual Meeting (AM) of the International Trademark Association (INTA) kicks off today in San Diego, USA. [Did you know that INTA was founded as the United States Trademark Association?] Since this Leo can’t afford (financially and otherwise) to be there – same old excuses - the best he can do is to window-shop for Africa-related content. If nothing else, this post may serve as a benchmark for next year’s AM so as to gauge the level of topics discussed and the local IP firms involved.

Main course
Tuesday, 5th May, 11:45 am–1:00 pm
RT20 Trademark Offices in Africa: The Importance of Working with Related Government Agencies [Brilliant! Afro-IP blog once had a look at the state of affairs online here and here]

Participants:
Simon Brown, Adams & Adams (South Africa)
John Syekei, Coulson Harney (Kenya)
Chitua Uzoh, Aluko & Oyebode (Nigeria)
Uche Nwokocha, Aluko & Oyebode (Nigeria) – Moderator (also a member of the project team)

Followed by Africa reception from 1:15 pm - 2:15 pm - mingle time!

Wednesday, 6th May, 10:15 am–11:30 am
RW02 Regional Update: Africa—The Implementation of International IP Treaties in Africa

Participants:
Fernando Antonio Dos Santos, African Regional Intellectual Property Organization (ARIPO) (Zimbabwe)
Dr. Paulin Edou Edou, Organisation Africaine de la Propriété Intellectuelle (OAPI) (Cameroon)
Wayne Meiring, Spoor & Fisher Jersey (South Africa)
Uwa Ohiku, Jackson, Etti, Edu & Co. (Nigeria)
Chinyere Anayo Okorocha, Jackson, Etti, Edu & Co. (Nigeria) – Moderator (also a member of the project team)


Side dishes a.k.a Table Topics
Monday, 4th May, 1:15pm – 3:15pm
TM72 Regulation of Franchising in Africa: A Little Too Much?
Presenter: Tiwalola Okeyinka, AELEX (Nigeria)

Tuesday, 5th May, 1:15pm – 3:15pm
(1) TT67 Supply Chain Security: A Regulatory and Anticounterfeiting Measure in the Food and Drug Industry
Presenter: Kingsley Ejiofor, The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) (Nigeria)

(2) TT68 Taking Security Over Intellectual Property: The Challenges of Global Market Operation Companies
Presenter: Obinna Osisiogu, Stillwaters Law Firm (Nigeria)

Committee sessions include:
Monday, 4th May, 1:15 pm – 3:15 pm
Trademark Offices Practices Committee – Africa TMO Relations Subcommittee
Tuesday, 5th May, 3:30 pm – 4:30 pm
Africa Global Advisory Council

On a side note, this Leo can see Aisha Salem, USPTO IP Attaché for the Middle East and North Africa, is listed as a participant. It would be good to find out from Salem if the USPTO (budget permitting) has any plans to expand its attaché program in Africa. [South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria?]

Commentary
This Leo can remember Afro-IP’s rallying call to action after the Regional Update for Africa vanished from INTA’s AM agenda in 2011. Indeed, it is with great relief to see the slot restored the following year and thereafter (see 2013). In fact, last year it was titled ‘Africa Rising!’ At this juncture, one can hazard a guess that local IP firms [though Afro-Leo would like to see more firms from other African countries participating] and the regional IP offices help retain Africa on the agenda through their support. Please keep up the good work!

Sitting next to me is one over-optimistic Afro-Leo who is sing-songing, “I still have a dream that one day - oh yes, one good day - that INTA will boldly stage this grand event on African soil”. Well, for those looking for IP events in one of the lovely African cities, there are a few scheduled this month in Cairo, Dakar and Kigali.

To the fortunate ones attending: please do feel free to share (anonymously or otherwise) your thoughts, notes, gossip etc during or after the event. (See one example on Afro-IP here)

20[ ] – INTA holds its first Annual Meeting in Africa, in [fill in the gap].
2014 - INTA holds its first Annual Meeting in Asia, in Hong Kong.
2007 - INTA establishes representation in Mumbai, India.
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