News & Insights
Adams’ Anti-Counterfeiting Team deals another blow to manufacturers of counterfeit engine lubricant and oil products
After thorough investigations by the firm’s internal private investigators, the Anti-Counterfeiting Team of Adams & Adams recently collaborated with the HAWKS (SAPS) in two provinces to clamp down on syndicates dealing in counterfeit engine lubricant and oil products. In the first operation in Gauteng, the team managed to identify and take down a manufacturing facility where […]
August 12 2022
Department beefs up enforcement of Regulations
It has been just under a month since the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development released a directive warning that certain meat analogue products are in contravention of local regulations relating to the packaging and labelling of processed meat products in SA (Regulation 1283 of 2019) in that they bear product names reserved […]
August 03 2022
Partial Patent Waiver for COVID-19 vaccines
Participating countries attending the 12th Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in Geneva, Switzerland reached an agreement on 17 June 2022 to partially waive intellectual property restrictions on the manufacture and production of COVID-19 vaccines for the next five years. The partial waiver provides that developing nations may authorise the use of the […]
August 02 2022
Exceptions should only be taken in exceptional circumstances
Rule 23 of the Uniform Rules of Court enables a litigant, within the time-period afforded of course, to deliver an exception in response to a pleading. An exception can be filed when a pleading is considered vague and embarrassing; or if it lacks averments which are necessary to sustain an action or a defence. A […]
July 27 2022
LEGAL DUTY OF CARE OWED BY TAVERNS TO CUSTOMERS
Most taverns are notoriously known for their unsafety and violent activities. Serious assaults, bar fights, and sometimes deaths are not necessarily unheard of in taverns. Most societies have come to accept such occurrences at taverns. As a consequence of this acceptance, most incidents are not reported. In recent weeks, South Africa has seen a worrisome […]
July 21 2022
REPUBLIC OF CAPE VERDE BECOMES 22nd ARIPO MEMBER STATE
After signaling its intention earlier this year to join ARIPO, the Republic of Cape Verde deposited its instruments of accession to ARIPO. The Minister of Energy, Trade and Industry, Hon. Alexandre Monteiro, presented the instruments of accession to the Director General of ARIPO, Mr Bemanya Twebaze at a ceremony held at the Embassy of Cape […]
July 18 2022
KENYA - Court finds businesswoman guilty of importing counterfeit goods
On 17 June 2022, a Nairobi City Court found businesswoman Ms. Rose Nyambura guilty for importing counterfeit circuit breakers into the country. Hon. G. Onsaringo ordered the defendant to pay a fine of Khs 3 million (USD 25445) or in default to serve 4 years in prison, stating that the crime posed a great danger […]
July 13 2022
KENYA - Appointment at Kenya Anti-Counterfeit Authority
The Kenya Anti-Counterfeit Authority has announced the appointment on 2 June 2022 of Mr. Yussuf Osman Ahmed as the new Director of the Enforcement Directorate. Mr. Osman started his position as an Investigating Officer and Prosecutor with the Weights and Measures Department under the Ministry of Trade and Industry from 2000. He joined the Anti-Counterfeit Authority in 2010 as an […]
July 13 2022
BOTSWANA - Adams & Adams Registry Visit
An Adams & Adams team led by Partner, Eugene Honey, visited Adams & Adams’ Associate Office in Gaborone, Botswana and the Companies and Intellectual Property Authority (CIPA) on 9 June 2022. They met with the IP Registrar, Mr. Tim Moalusi, and the Assistant IP Registrar, Ms Malebogo Selemogo, to discuss Registry operations, IP developments in […]
July 13 2022
Workshop on the integration and implementation of IP tools
The European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) is hosting a workshop on 21 and 22 June 2022 in Harare, Zimbabwe on the integration and implementation of IP tools with ARIPO member states. The EUIPO has developed IP tools in collaboration with the European Union’s member states IP offices in order to enable the offices to […]
July 13 2022
Workshop hosted by ARIPO and AfrIPI
A workshop was hosted by ARIPO and the Intellectual Property Rights and Innovation Project in Africa (AfrIPI) on 27 April 2022 to promote creativity and innovation for socio-economic growth of the member states through an effective intellectual property system. ARIPO Director General, Bemanya Twebaze, encouraged applicants in member states to register designs and utility models […]
July 13 2022
Ad hoc sub-working group on geographical indications holds first meeting
The first meeting of the ARIPO ad hoc sub-working group on geographical indications (GIs) took place online on 16 June 2022. The working group comprises Ghana, Kenya, Liberia, Malawi, Mozambique and Zambia. The aim of the sub-group was to discuss a suitable legal framework for the protection of GIs in ARIPO member states and was assisted […]
July 13 2022
Partial Patent Waiver for COVID-19 vaccines
Participating countries attending the 12th Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in Geneva, Switzerland reached an agreement on 17 June 2022 to partially waive intellectual property restrictions on the manufacture and production of COVID-19 vaccines for the next five years. The partial waiver provides that developing nations may authorise the use of the […]
July 13 2022
TUNISIA - Days of Copyright and Neighbouring Rights
The “Tunisian Days of Copyright and Neighbouring Rights”, a promotion of the culture of copyright and related rights, was held from 3-5 June 2022 in Tunis. It is a programme organised by the Tunisian Organization of Copyright and Neighbouring Rights (OTDAV) in partnership with the Tunis Opera Theater and the Union of Tunisian Visual Artists […]
July 13 2022
RWANDA - Construction of mRNA production facility begins
Construction of the first state-of-the-art BioNTech mRNA production facility in Africa begun in Kigali on 23 June 2022. BioNTech co-developed the first approved mRNA-based vaccine (Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine) and is setting up the facility as part of a decentralised pan-African end-to-end manufacturing network. The facility will be able to manufacture a range of mRNA-based vaccines […]
July 13 2022
Kenya: Mandatory recordal of IP rights for imported goods
Kenya has taken recent measures regarding anti-counterfeiting to be implemented by the Anti-Counterfeiting Authority (ACA). The ACA issued two public notices (No.1/2022 and No.2/2022) on 26 April 2022 requiring that all intellectual property rights for goods imported into Kenya must be recorded with the ACA starting from 1 July 2022, with an extended deadline of […]
July 13 2022
OAPI - Training of patent examiners
In cooperation with the European Patent Office (EPO) and the AfrIPI project, participants of the OAPI Distance Training for Patent Examiners began their second training session on 7 June 2022. The programme aims to strengthen the capacity of patent examiners to substantively exam patent applications and utility models. Substantive examination is scheduled to begin in […]
July 13 2022
OAPI - Mandate renewal of Director-General Denis Bohoussou Loukou as CEO
The Board of Directors of OAPI have granted a second and final term to Director-General Denis Bohoussou Loukou as the head of OAPI. His first term of office ended in a crisis with his suspension on 14 October 2021 by the President of the Board of Directors, Beninese Alimatou Shadiya Assouman, on the grounds of […]
July 13 2022