PER: 2010 Volume 13 No 4
Contents
10 December 2010
Oratio
- Can traditional knowledge be effectively covered under a single "umbrella?" / Van der Merwe, A
Articles
- Property rights and traditional knowledge / Cross, JT
- Protecting expressions of folklore within the right to culture in Africa / Nwauche, ES
- Traditional knowledge and patent protection: Conflicting views on international patent standards / Andrzejewski, A
- Towards a clearer definition and understanding of "indigenous community" for the purposes of the Intellectual Property Law Amandment Bill 2010: An eploration of the concepts "indigenous" and "traditional" / Geyer, S
- Some tax implications of traditional knowledge under conventional intellectual property / Gutuza, T
- Protecting traditional knowledge - does secrecy offer a solution? / Tong, L
Editorial
This edition is wholly composed of selected and peer-reviewed contributions made in a specialist scholarly conference on Traditional Knowledge in Legal Context held at Potchefstroom on 17-18 March 2009 at Potchefstroom.
Oratio
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Andre van der Merwe a Senior Director of DM Kisch Incorporated and practising Intellectual and Patent attorney, delivered the key-note address (here published as an oratio), posing the question whether traditional knowledge, for which there is no unambiguous definition, can effectively be protected under a single umbrella." After considering the matter from inter alia historical, philosophical and legal perspectives, he suggests a solution based on a multi-disciplinary approach.
Articles
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In his paper John T Cross of the University of Louisville in the USA argues for a property model for traditional knowledge by refuting the classic argument that property rights are justified only as a way to spur innovation and other creative activity. He goes on to demonstrate the usefulness of a system of property rights for the dissemination of traditional knowledge and to promote the assurance of the accuracy of knowledge.
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The protection of folklore is the focus of Enyinna Nwauche of the Rivers State University of Science and Technology, Port Harcourt, Nigeria. With reference to constitutional and international rights protection, he demonstrates how deficient national protection of expressions of folklore may be overcome in Africa by means of a human rights regime.
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Next, Adam Andrzejewski of the Justus-Liebig-University in Gieen, Germany confronts the difficulty that ownership of the potentially useful pharmaceutical substances available in the natural resources used by indigenous communities continues to be controversial. He compares European, American and international patent law norms in search of clarification of the issues surrounding patent protection.
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Sunelle Geyer of UNISA in Pretoria addresses the vexing question of the definition of the terms "indigenous" and "traditional" in view of the inadequate provisions of the South African intellectual property legislation in this regard. She makes recommendations with reference to other South African and foreign statutes and United Nations documents.
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Tracy Gutuza of the University of Cape Town analyses the potential income tax implications of the proposed incorporation of traditional intellectual property in the intellectual property legislation of South Africa.
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Finally Lee-Ann Tong of the University of Cape Town investigates the possibility of protecting traditional knowledge by making use of secrecy and the concerns arising in this regard where reliance is placed on unfair competition and contract.
Editor: Professor Francois Venter / Edition editor: Professor Andre van der Merwe
Recent Submissions
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Protecting traditional knowledge - does secrecy offer a solution?
(North-West University (Potchefstroom Campus), Faculty of Law, 2010)The shortcomings of using the intellectual property system to safeguard the interests of traditional knowledge holders have received considerable attention. Laws that guard against the disclosure of secret traditional ... -
Some tax implications of traditional knowledge under conventional intellectual property
(North-West University (Potchefstroom Campus), Faculty of Law, 2010)The proposed incorporation of traditional intellectual property into the definition of copyright, trade-marks and designs as defined in the Copyright Act,1 the Trade Marks Act2 and the Designs Act3 may affect the income ... -
Towards a clearer definition and understanding of "indigenous community" for the purposes of the Intellectual Property Law Amandment Bill 2010: An eploration of the concepts "indigenous" and "traditional"
(North-West University (Potchefstroom Campus), Faculty of Law, 2010)Although "indigenous" and "traditional" are key concepts in the Intellectual Property Laws Amendment Bill of 2010, they are not defined therein. The Bill does, however, provide a definition of "indigenous community" that ... -
Can traditional knowledge be effectively covered under a single "umbrella?"
(North-West University (Potchefstroom Campus), Faculty of Law, 2010) -
Traditional knowledge and patent protection: Conflicting views on international patent standards
(North-West University (Potchefstroom Campus), Faculty of Law, 2010)As diseases continue to spread around the globe, pharmaceutical and biotech companies continue to search for new and better drugs to treat them. Most of these companies have realised that useful compounds for these purposes ... -
Protecting expressions of folklore within the right to culture in Africa
(North-West University (Potchefstroom Campus), Faculty of Law, 2010)This paper explores the protection of expressions of folklore within the right to culture in Africa by considering three issues, which are the increased understanding of the right to culture in national constitutions and ... -
Property rights and traditional knowledge
(North-West University (Potchefstroom Campus), Faculty of Law, 2010)For the past several decades, there has been a push to provide some sort of right akin to an intellectual property right in traditional knowledge and traditional cultural expression. This push has encountered staunch ...