Weekly Review of Intellectual Property News from Africa and Beyond

This week marked the launch of CIPIT’s official website: www.cipit.org. This is a groundbreaking achievement both in Kenya and throughout Africa. With the exception of South Africa, Strathmore University is now the only other African university with a fully fledged Centre for Intellectual Property research and practice. In this regard, we would like to invite everyone to check out the CIPIT website and show your support as we continue to grow.
Without further ado, here are some of the major IP-related news items that caught our attention this past week:
– “Petition Urges Delay, Discussion Of Pan-African Intellectual Property Organization” [IP Watch]
– “Will Proposed Pan-Africa Intellectual Property Organization Enable The West To Impose Its Monopolies?” [TechDirt]
– “Nigeria: Why P-Square and I don’t belong to any collecting society –Jude Okoye” [Punch Magazine]
– South Africa: “Time to rethink: patents and public health revisited” [AfroIP]
– Music Copyright Society of Kenya is now on Twitter, officially. [Captain Obvious]
– Morocco: Official fees for trademark, design and patent related matters to increase. [AfroIP]
– South Africa: Visual Arts Copyright Licensing Division to Offer Local Artists International Opportunities [AfroEdge]
– India: Debate over the the future of copyright societies [SpicyIP]
– “Court finds copyright of Buddha design valid” [China IP Magazine]
– CIPIT gets noticed and much appreciated kudos by the IPKat [In case you missed it!]
CIPIT’s nod from IPKat wraps up this week’s list. If any of our readers know of any other significant IP stories from Africa and beyond that were not mention, the comments box is all yours.
Finally, this blogger would like to remind all IP enthusiasts in Kenya that the monthly IP CheckIn meet-up is coming up on the 10th of November at the Nairobi Innovation Hub (*iHub_). Some of the topics to be discussed include: the impact of the recent IP law amendments enacted in the Statute Law Miscellaneous Act 2012, branding in the media, entertainment and ICT industries, among other topics. Please diarise this date and bring along a friend or three.