News & Insights
INSURANCE LAW: NO MORE COVER FOR ELECTRICTY GRID FAILURE?
South Africa is suffering from the worst loadshedding ever implemented. This is causing significant headaches for the insurance industry, particularly the short-term insurance companies. The energy crisis comes on the back of the major calamities of recent years, such as Covid-19, the July 2021 unrest, and the Durban floods of April 2022. As a result, […]
February 10 2023
Insurer held liable to pay farm owner millions in damages following fire outbreak
During May 2015, a fire broke out on farm owned by Normandien Farms (Pty) Ltd (“Normandien”), causing extensive damage to a plantation which was insured by Safire Crop Protection Co-operative Limited (“Safire”). Normandien subsequently lodged a claim with Safire who in turn rejected the claim. The reason for their rejection was twofold; firstly, Safire believed […]
February 09 2023
POSSIBLE LEGAL CONSEQUENCES OF WILD ANIMALS ROAMING AROUND THE STREET
Within the first month of the new year, there have been 2 (TWO) tigers reported to have escaped from captivity and found to be roaming around freely on the streets. The first one was found and euthanised. By the time it was located, it had already seriously injured at least one resident. There have been […]
February 03 2023
CASE UPDATE: Medical practitioner receives disability payment worth millions despite falling behind on insurance premiums.
Our client, a successful medical practitioner, suffered a cardiac arrest (“the event”) following a routine procedure to remove a mass from his kidney. Pursuant to the event, our client was placed on a ventilator for months, resulting in him not being able to speak post being weaned off the ventilator. In addition, our client suffered […]
February 02 2023
Change in Assignment Requirements in South Africa
Recently, the Registrar of the South African Patent Office published a practice note updating the formality requirements for assignments in patent applications. Previously, where an International PCT application claims priority from an earlier filed application in a Convention country, assignments were not required for filing in the South African PCT national phase application if the […]
January 31 2023
Claiming consequential loss from your insurer
Many insured consumers may be in for a nasty surprise for wrongly believing that they enjoy blanket cover from their insurer. The reality is however that their cover is limited to that specifically agreed with their insurer. The cover usually relates only to physical damage sustained to an insured object, meaning that, unless otherwise agreed, […]
January 30 2023
JANU -WORRY FINANCIAL CONSTRAINTS & INSURANCE POLICIES
For most households, the first few months of the year are the most financially demanding and, as a result, people struggle to make ends meet. It is, as such, not surprising that most people relook at their budgets to identify non-essential expenses. It often happens that insurance policies are one of the few items that […]
January 26 2023
INSURER FAILS IN ITS BID TO SET ASIDE ORDER GRANTED IN ITS ABSENTIA
A large insurance company’s application to rescind a court order, granted by default, was dismissed with costs in the High Court of South Africa, Gauteng Division, Pretoria. The insurer, in exchange for monthly premiums to be paid by the insured, agreed to indemnify the insured for loss or damage. The insured’s motor vehicle was subsequently […]
January 25 2023
RIGHTS OF MINORITY SHAREHOLDERS IN TERMS OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN COMPANY LAWS
The directors of a company are tasked with the control and management of the day-to-day operations of a company. Shareholders own the company through the shares which they hold. Shareholders are bound by the decisions of the board of directors as enacted through its resolutions. In principle, the rights which accrue from the ownership of […]
January 24 2023
The Devil is in the details of an Insurance contract
A few media houses have recently reported that Mr. Erlo Goshai, a Cape Town motorist, has warned motorists to “read the fine print when entering into contracts with their insurance company to make sure they are adequately covered”. According to the reports, Goshai was driving along Marine Drive and was in the process of turning […]
January 19 2023
WHAT IS FORFEITURE of ASSETS IN A DIVORCE?
In most divorces, either one of or both the parties feel wronged and aggrieved by either having to share their assets, or having any assets included in the calculation of the accrual. The Pretoria High Court recently ruled that a woman’s infidelity amounted to substantial misconduct and, as such, she forfeited her right to share […]
January 18 2023
Negligence vs Recklessness
Consumers procure insurance for many reasons. One of the reasons is to protect themselves from their own actions. Negligence v recklessness Some actions enjoy cover under insurance policies whilst others don’t. For example, negligent actions are usually covered whilst reckless actions are usually not. Negligence can colloquially be defined as failing to act reasonably which […]
January 17 2023
OAPI Joins Geneva Act of WIPO's Lisbon Agreement
On 15 December 2022, the African Intellectual Property Organization (OAPI) acceded to The Geneva Act of the Lisbon Agreement on Appellations of Origin and Geographical Indications taking the total number of countries covered by the Lisbon system to 70. Furthermore, all 17 member states of OAPI are covered by the system: Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, […]
January 16 2023
Nigerian Coalition seeks collaboration against counterfeit pharmaceutical products
The Coalition Against Counterfeit Pharmaceutical products (CACCP), Nigerian Representatives of Overseas Pharmaceutical Manufacturers (NiroPharm) and Pfizer are looking to work together with relevant stakeholders in the pharmaceutical industry in the fight against counterfeit pharmaceutical products in Nigeria. The initiative was presented at its inaugural forum where the way forward in the fight against pharmaceutical products […]
January 16 2023
Mauritius Accedes to PCT
On 21 December 2022, the Director General of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) gave notice of the deposit by the Government of the Republic of Mauritius of its instrument of accession to the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) on December 15, 2022. By doing so, Mauritius has become the 157th Contracting State of the PCT. […]
January 16 2023
Kenyan Anti-Counterfeiting Authority publishes HS codes goods requiring ACA import permit application
In earlier announcement, the Kenyan Anti-Counterfeiting Authority (ACA) announced that, as of 1 January 2023, it would be an offence to import goods bearing IP into Kenya where the trademark owner has not recorded the IP rights with the ACA. In December 2022 and in line with its proposed phased approach, the ACA published a […]
January 16 2023
Ivory Coast in top 3 of number of OAPI filings
On 13 December 2022, the Director General of the Ivorian Intellectual Property Office (OIPI), Assandé Koffi Paul, announced that the Ivory Coast was in the top 3 in terms of the number of IP filings at OAPI. The announcement was made in Abidjan-Plateau, during the weekly press conference “Tout Savoir sur” of the Center for […]
January 16 2023