Assessing impact of changes to intellectual property regime

The intellectual property laws of any country determine who has access to the fruits of innovation and creation, be it in science, technology, medicine, literature or music. The balance needed in public policy is to reward innovators and creators for genuine advancements while not unfairly excluding citizens from the benefits of those advancements.

In line with other emerging markets, like India, the government felt the intellectual property regime was too aligned to the former, and excluded the poor and vulnerable from access to intellectual property, and wanted to introduce reforms.

The main proposals focused on:

• the implementation of an examination system for patents;
• the incorporation of various Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) flexibilities into South African legislation; and
• implementing the provisions of various international treaties on copyright, trademarks and designs.

Genesis was contracted by the Department of Trade and Industry to review the draft national policy on intellectual property and provide an independent assessment of the pros and cons of the Bill, and then to make recommendations for improvement. The report was confidential.