Legislation: IP Laws Amendment Act to be operationalised

Regulations giving practical effect to the 2013 Intellectual Property (IP) Laws Amendment Act will be developed during 2020/21, according to a Department of Trade & Industry presentation document circulated at yesterday’s meeting of the National Assembly committee concerned, reports Pam Saxby for Legalbrief Policy Watch. This is noting that – with the aim of incorporating indigenous knowledge as a form of IP – once in force the Act will amend the 1967 Performers’ Protection Act, 1978 Copyright Act, 1993 Trade Mark Act and 1993 Design Act to provide for ‘certain forms of traditional knowledge protection’. Unfortunately, in the absence of a delegation from the Department of Science & Innovation, there was no discussion on the likely ‘impact’ of the 2019 Protection, Promotion, Development & Management of Indigenous Knowledge Act on Intellectual Property Laws Amendment Act implementation.

A briefing document prepared by the Companies & Intellectual Property Commission, also circulated at yesterday’s meeting, outlines ‘concerns’ about the Intellectual Property Laws Amendment Act, endorsing the ‘more centralised approach’ to protecting indigenous knowledge proposed by the Department of Science & Innovation. This is noting that, in the commission’s view, none of the statutes the Act seeks to amend protect ‘knowledge or concepts’ anyway – and that ‘the protection of traditional knowledge per se’ was never the Act’s intention. According to the commission, should they be operationalised, the amendments may themselves require changes, possibly leading to a ‘plethora of Acts’ and more legal uncertainty. Calling on ‘departmental stakeholders’ to become ‘active and collaborative partners’ in implementing ‘an effective and cohesive framework’ for protecting traditional knowledge to the benefit of affected communities, the document also endorses the ongoing ‘phased approach’ to formulating national IP policy and developing the appropriate legislation.