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David |
"The Forum was very well organised and the speakers were
excellent. As a practitioner I gained valuable insight into the
difficulties facing the African continent when it comes to IP related issues,
and also possible solutions.
As the meeting started, there was a demonstration by members of
the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC). Initially I felt that it was not
correct to interrupt a meeting of this nature, but when I saw people taking
part in the demonstration who were clearly suffering and also the importance of
their message, I understood it. Mrs Zodwa Ntuli (the Deputy Director General for corporate & consumer regulation at the DTI)
was very gracious and allowed a speaker from the TAC to take the microphone.
The TAC called on the Minister of Trade and Industry (Dr Rob Davies) to publish
the long-awaited IP policy, and called for South Africa to amend its patent
laws to change from a depository system to an examination system, to allow for
pre and post grant opposition of patents, and to provide administrative
procedures for compulsory licensing. The TAC’s stance is that it is important
that the rights of the patent holder be balanced with the right to health, and
I am sure that no-one can argue with this. These issues were dealt with
in detail at the Forum and I hope that this aim can be achieved.
Dr Davies gave a very interesting talk on where South Africa is heading on the IP Front. Dr Davies said that the South African Government is looking to adaptation and continuous development (not necessarily ground breaking developments), to improve the industrial development in South Africa. Dr Davies said that the Government respects IP protection and seeks to strike a balance between IP protection and public policy, especially public health. South Africa is signatory to International Agreements such as the TRIPS Agreement and the Government will be looking to the flexibilities which are available in the TRIPS Agreement to strike this balance. Dr Davies also mentioned the stark distinction between generic medicines and counterfeit goods, and that the Government will do everything possible against the scourge of counterfeiting. Dr Davies also mentioned that (in my view unfortunately) the Government is still looking to amend the IP laws to protect traditional knowledge instead of setting up a sui generis system for protection (as has been suggested by leading IP attorneys in South Africa).
1 comments:
Write commentsThanks for this succint oveview, David. I share your sentiments about the IP protection of traditional knowledge. However, it seems that the DST is pushing the sui generis protection aspect to complement the DTI's IP protection. See http://www.pmg.org.za/report/20120613-indigenous-knowledge-systems-iks-activities-sui-generis-legislation-b
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