ARIPO Members: Collective Management Organisations Need Better Digital Documentation, Licensing 23/11/2016 by Hillary Muheebwa for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Collective management organisations need to embrace online trading platforms, so as to increase earnings for economies and creators. That was the call made during a recent regional workshop on digital licensing and documentation in Harare, Zimbabwe for music collective management organisations (CMOs) by the member states of the African Regional Intellectual Property Organization (ARIPO).
Message To WIPO: Here’s The Assistance We African Inventors Really Need 16/11/2016 by Justus Wanzala for Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment NAIROBI, Kenya — Patent protection is a challenge to many an inventor in developing countries. Inventors in most African countries, for instance, are compelled to surmount huge obstacles to protect their inventions. In order to remedy the situation, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in collaboration with the World Economic Forum has launched an Inventor Assistance Programme (IAP). Now, the local inventor community in Kenya has a few words for WIPO on how to expand the programme to make it more effective on the ground. Trust is one of them.
Countries Asked To Revise IP Laws Preventing Implementation Of Farmers’ Rights 15/11/2016 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment A global consultation on farmers’ rights recently co-organised by Indonesia and Norway provided recommendations to the international plant treaty, calling for the establishment of an ad hoc working group on farmers’ rights. They also recommended that contracting parties of the treaty revise their intellectual property laws and other legislation that may create obstacles for the realisation of farmers’ rights.
East African Nations Agree Declaration Promoting Regional Pharma Sector Investment 07/11/2016 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment Senior officials from East African nations last week agreed on a declaration on promoting investment in the region’s pharmaceutical sector, spelling out terms aimed at boosting investment in ways that are locally relevant and responsible. The declaration includes: steps to standardise and improve product quality and registration, boosting government procurement of local products, setting up research centres, adopting domestic laws on intellectual property and international trade flexibilities to IP, actions against counterfeit and substandard medical products, and increasing exports. The meeting comes as local pharmaceutical production is seen to be in decline in the region.
The Comments Are In On South African IP Framework; Action Seen In Early 2017 20/10/2016 by Linda Daniels for Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment The invitation by the South African Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) to intellectual property stakeholders to comment on its recently released IP Consultative Framework has reignited calls for the department to come clean on the status of the national draft IP policy.
Licensing, Choice And New Players: Keys To Fostering Local Film Production 17/10/2016 by Alexandra Nightingale for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Audiovisual producers at a side event to the recent World Intellectual Property Organization General Assemblies shared experiences and exchanged best practices in the use of copyright and related rights’ frameworks. Speakers said they seek an enabling environment, where makers of audiovisual works can achieve economic sustainability and contribute to local employment and growth through the creation and supply of local audiovisual works.
WIPO Workshop: African States Are Themselves To Blame, Should Compile, Publicize IP Statistics 10/10/2016 by Hillary Muheebwa for Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment Each year, the World Intellectual Property Organization Economic and Statistics Division sends out questionnaires, which intellectual property offices worldwide are expected to complete and return.
Delinkage Of R&D Costs From Product Prices 15/09/2016 by Intellectual Property Watch 5 Comments It is essential that policy makers reform the systems for financing R&D, and de-link the costs of R&D from the prices of products, says James Love.
IP Judges In Developing Countries Hand-Tied By Local Laws, Justice Says 13/09/2016 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Enforcement of intellectual property rights can be unbalanced in developing countries because local laws are crafted in a way that makes it difficult for judges to bring balance in their rulings, a former justice from South Africa told the World Intellectual Property Organization last week.
Kenya In Drive To Get Artisans, Designers To Embrace IP 13/09/2016 by Maina Waruru for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment NAIROBI, Kenya — At a market stall in Kariokor some 300 metres from Kenya’s capital Nairobi city centre, Stephen Musyoka is busy at work making covers for handwoven baskets, a traditional sisal fibre shopping basket known as Kiondo made by older women from different communities in Kenya.