POLITY PUBLISHED: 10 APR 2013
Creamer Media reports:
Protection of Traditional Knowledge Bill published in the Government Gazette
Roll up and hear the good news! Today the new sui generis Protection of Traditional Knowledge Bill was published in the Government Gazette, signalling a major step toward the protection of traditional knowledge (TK) in South Africa.
This Bill is based on the Protection of TK Bill drafted by the incumbent of the Stellenbosch Chair of IP Law (CIP), Prof Owen Dean, and was tabled in Parliament by Dr Wilmot James earlier this year amid widespread and serious criticism of Government’s current attempt at protecting TK through the Intellectual Property Laws Amendment Bill (the old TK Bill).
Now, finally, there is an alternative on the table that neither the Department of Trade and Industry nor its indifferent Portfolio Committee (responsible for the old TK Bill) can ignore.
The new TK Bill (fondly referred to as Wilmot’s Bill), if it becomes law, will introduce a pioneering approach to the protection of indigenous works in a manner befitting South Africa’s status as an (erstwhile) leader of the international IP community. In addition, it will establish a TK system that will stand firmly on its own, untrammelled by interference from its ill-fitting cousins, namely the selection of IP statutes the old TK Bill sought to amend for this purpose.
For the full article go to; http://www.polity.org.za
Creamer Media reports:
Protection of Traditional Knowledge Bill published in the Government Gazette
Roll up and hear the good news! Today the new sui generis Protection of Traditional Knowledge Bill was published in the Government Gazette, signalling a major step toward the protection of traditional knowledge (TK) in South Africa.
This Bill is based on the Protection of TK Bill drafted by the incumbent of the Stellenbosch Chair of IP Law (CIP), Prof Owen Dean, and was tabled in Parliament by Dr Wilmot James earlier this year amid widespread and serious criticism of Government’s current attempt at protecting TK through the Intellectual Property Laws Amendment Bill (the old TK Bill).
Now, finally, there is an alternative on the table that neither the Department of Trade and Industry nor its indifferent Portfolio Committee (responsible for the old TK Bill) can ignore.
The new TK Bill (fondly referred to as Wilmot’s Bill), if it becomes law, will introduce a pioneering approach to the protection of indigenous works in a manner befitting South Africa’s status as an (erstwhile) leader of the international IP community. In addition, it will establish a TK system that will stand firmly on its own, untrammelled by interference from its ill-fitting cousins, namely the selection of IP statutes the old TK Bill sought to amend for this purpose.
For the full article go to; http://www.polity.org.za
