MARCH 2008
Traditional knowledge to new protection
South Africa is contemplating new laws to protect the country's traditional knowledge. Other countries on the continent may follow. Companies should welcome these moves, says Emma Barraclough
The phrase "traditional knowledge" often elicits eye rolling from IP lawyers. For practitioners who deal daily with defined terms and contractual rights and responsibilities, traditional knowledge raises fears of a concept that deals with something far less quantifiable. Debates about how it should be safeguarded pit commercial lawyers against campaigners who many practitioners accuse of having little understanding about how IP laws work and who want to muddy the legal waters by introducing stand-alone, sui generis systems of protection.
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