It kind of feels
Following
on from Darren’s post, which informed
us that The Gambia is keen on protecting traditional
knowledge and folklore ('TK') for the benefit of its valuable tourism
industry, this Leo understands
that The Gambia has put its money where its mouth is by ratifying the Swakopmund Protocol
on the Protection of Traditional Knowledge and Expressions of Folklore (ARIPO). Read all about it, as reported by The Standard, here.
Readers may also wish to take note of what the Attorney General and Minister of Justice of the Republic of The Gambia said at the inaugural event of ARIPO’s IP roadshow seminar held in Banjul, The Gambia, last August. According to ARIPO’s press release:
“…Hon. Justice Mama Fatima Singhateh highlighted the most significant
achievements of the IP Office in the country namely the clearance of a backlog,
[This is brilliant news! See Afro-IP’s post in 2012 which told us that they were working on it] the
inclusion of IP in the National Science and Technology Policy and the drafting
of the IP Policy and Strategy. [On which see Caroline’s report on IP policy
in The Gambia here]
Hon. Singhateh also indicated that the
Government took the conscious decision of joining the Madrid System on Marks
and is following up on latest developments on the Banjul Protocol reforms and
the text of the Swakopmund Protocol on the Protection of Traditional Knowledge
and Expressions of Folklore in order to consider accession.”[Talk about persuasion and conversion! Well done, ARIPO]
India and WIPO partner to protect TK here
A report published by the UN on indigenous peoples is here (for
IP rights & TK, see pp. 64 – 77)
The British
Monarchy’s commercial value is protected under various
laws, and in the world of advertising (As Darren mentioned in his post referenced above)
