SOUTH AFRICA: Intellectual property laws being drafted

The Department of Science and Technology is drafting legislation that will encourage the development of local intellectual property by providing public funding, reports ITWeb. The legislation will also ensure the country and innovators will benefit from intellectual property being developed into commercial products.

"We recognise that intellectual property is an instrument for economic growth and improvement of the quality of life," said Science and Technology minister Mosibudi Mangena. "To this end, we are promulgating the Intellectual Property Rights from Publicly Financed Research and Development Legislation."

Mangena explained that the legislation could not only provides an enabling environment for intellectual property creation, protection and management; it would also support the commercialisation of intellectual property by providing greater clarity on the ownership generated through publicly financed research.

Full report on the ITWeb site