Open A.I.R. Conference on Innovation and IP in Africa, and 3rd Global Congress on IP and Public Interest

In December 2013, delegates from national and international governmental governmental entities, the private sector, civil society, and academia will gather for five days of interconnected events in Cape Town. Participants will engage with diverse perspectives and future scenarios for intellectual property (IP), innovation and development during the Open A.I.R. Conference on Innovation and IP in Africa (9-11 December) and the 3rd Global Congress on IP and the Public Interest (11-13 December). For further details and registration (opening soon), visit this website's Cape Town 2013 page.

The University of Cape Town (UCT) Faculty of Law's IP Unit will serve as host of both the Open A.I.R. Conference and the 3rd Global Congress. Partners include the Access to Knowledge for Development Center (A2K4D) at The American University in Cairo, the Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies (NIALS) in Lagos, the Centre for IP and IT Law (CIPIT) at Strathmore University in Nairobi, the Centre for Law, Technology and Society at the University of Ottawa and the Program on Information Justice and Intellectual Property at American University.

Funding is provided by Canada’s International Development Research Centre (IDRC), Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), and the Open Society Foundations.

Type of event: 
Conference
Date: 
Mon, 09/12/2013 to Fri, 13/12/2013
Place: 
Cape Town

IP Advocacy for Traditional Medicine -- a NIALS Roundtable

Open A.I.R.'s West Africa Hub institution, the Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies (NIALS), hosted this roundtable on intellectual property (IP) in relation to traditional medicine. Two Open A.I.R. Nigeria Team members, Prof. Adebambo Adewopo and Helen Chuma-Okoro, presented papers at the event. Chuma-Okoro is an Open A.I.R. Research Fellow and Coordinator of the West Africa Hub.

Type of event: 
Seminar
Date: 
Tue, 09/04/2013
Place: 
Lagos

Protecting African Bio-cultural Heritage: The Role of Intellectual Property Rights

Three Open A.I.R. Research Fellows will present at a seminar, hosted by the University of Cape Town's (UCT's) All Africa House, entitled “Protecting African Bio-cultural Heritage: The Role of Intellectual Property Rights”. Open A.I.R. Research Fellow Eliamani Laltaika of Tanzania will present on the topic of “Intellectual Property Rights: A Part of the Problem?” while Fellow Esther Ngom of Cameroon will speak on “Protecting African Traditional Medicinal Knowledge: Which Way Africa?” Third presentation, by Fellow Seble Baraki of Ethiopia, will be on “Geographical Indications: Law a New Tool of Trade for Africa?"

Type of event: 
Seminar
Date: 
Tue, 28/08/2012
Place: 
Cape Town

Open A.I.R Traditional Knowledge (TK) Commons Forum

One of the six Open A.I.R. Thematic Working Groups, the group focussing on the concept of the traditional knowledge (TK) commons, met at the University of Cape Town (UCT) in February 2012 for a forum entitled "Non-Traditional Users of Traditional Knowledge (TK): Opportunities and Challenges around Compliance". The meeting, convened by the non-profit group Natural Justice: Lawyers for Communities and the Environment, brought together lawyers and legal researchers working in Ghana, Kenya and South Africa with traditional healers from South Africa. As outlined in the report attached below, the meeting addressed a range of issues, including: (1) how to define the concept of a TK commons; (2) modes for pooling and sharing of TK; (3) the perspectives of traditional healers in relation to notions of TK-sharing; and (4) possible policy frameworks in suppor of TK commons arrangements.

Type of event: 
Workshop/Meeting
Date: 
Wed, 01/02/2012 to Thu, 02/02/2012
Place: 
Cape Town

Open A.I.R. Seminar on IP and Open Development in Africa

The Open A.I.R. Project convened a seminar – entitled “How Can Intellectual Property (IP) Be Harnessed for Open Development in Africa?” – on the afternoon of Thursday 29 March 2012 at the Fairview Hotel, Nairobi. Seminar moderators were Open A.I.R. Steering Committee (SC) member Sisule Musungu of IQsensato and Open A.I.R. Research Fellow Milton Lore of Bridgeworks Africa Ltd. The panellists were Dr. Henry Mutai, who is Managing Director of the Kenyan Industrial Property Institute (KIPI), along with Alex Gakuru of the ICT Consumers Association of Kenya (ICAK), John Kieti of Nairobi's m:lab East Africa innovation incubator, and Open A.I.R. network member Dr. Marisella Ouma, who is the Executive Director of the Kenya Copyright Board.

The Seminar opened with an outline of the Open A.I.R. Project, and its research and training objectives, from Open A.I.R. Principal Investigator Prof. Jeremy de Beer of the University of Ottawa (pictured below).

Among the issues covered were patenting in relation Kenyan traditional knowledge (TK), interactions between local mobile phone application developers and large mobile telephony firms, and the potential for Creative Commons (CC) copyright licensing, already gaining a foothold in Uganda, to establish a presence in Kenya. The panellists' inputs were wide-ranging and stimulating, as were the questions from the audience.

 

Type of event: 
Seminar
Date: 
Thu, 29/03/2012
Place: 
Nairobi

The Kakula Traditional Health Practitioners Association and its Traditional Knowledge (TK) Commons, South Africa

What are the dynamics of the traditional knowledge (TK) commons that has been created by the Kakula Traditional Health Practitioners Association of Bushbuckridge, and can this TK commons be a model for other South African health practitioners and their communities to follow? Since the signing of the international Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in 1992 and concomitant South African legislation, specifically the Traditional Health Practitioner Act and the Biodiversity Act, both of 2004, a number of healers’ communities have adopted new forms of self-governance in relation to their traditional heritage. The Kakula Traditional Health Practitioners Association in Bushbuckridge, Limpopo Province, South Africa – through a bio-cultural community protocol (BCP) – has created a traditional knowledge (TK) common pool of its members’ individually held knowledge. The BCP has assisted the community of healers to protect its traditional knowledge, associated with medicinal plants, against bio-piracy, and to provide for sustainable use of natural plant resources. Additionally, the BCP gives the healers a strengthened position in negotiating access and benefit sharing (ABS) agreements, such as the ABS agreement currently in place with a local cosmetics company in a neighbouring community. This research focusses on the TK commons the healers association has created -- which is in line with their BCP -- and considers the structure of the healers’ commons system; who is/was involved in its implementation; its purpose; how it is integrated into the Bushbuckridge community; the constraints the healers have/had to deal with in their commons system; and whether the knowledge commons integrated into the BCP could be a model for further knowledge commons initiatives in South Africa.

A Commons Approach to Traditional Knowledge (TK) in Ghana

Is there an existing example of a traditional knowledge (TK) commons approach being adopted in Ghana? If so, how does it function? If not, what are the prospects for a TK commons in Ghana? Traditional knowledge (TK) encompasses a mix of ancient current knowledge, with age-old therapies and cultural heritage continually refined in order to cater for present societal needs. TK is typically viewed as belonging to communities and not to particular individuals. The knowledge has been handed down from generation to generation and through the sharing of the knowledge, a “commons” has been created. However, oftentimes, foreign entities acquire TK and commercialise it, without appropriate compensation to the community/ies from which the knowledge is obtained. This has prompted dissatisfaction from indigenous and local communities (ILCs) who are the “guardians” of TK. The international Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) of 1992 took note of this injustice and recognised the value of protecting TK as part of preserving, among others, biodiversity, ecosystems and species. The CBD further emphasised the need for equitable access and benefit-sharing (ABS) agreements for the use of TK. Following on from the objectives of the CBD, nine of the 18 Member States of the African Regional Intellectual Property Organisation (ARIPO), including Ghana, in 2010 agreed to the Swakopmund Protocol on the Protection of Traditional Knowledge and Expressions of Folklore. The Swakopmund Protocol highlights the importance of benefit-sharing. This study is investigating existing TK protection/sharing systems in place in Ghana, and the degree to which a TK commons approach is present and/or feasible.

The Policy Context for a Traditional Knowledge (TK) Commons in Kenya

How enabling is the Kenyan intellectual property (IP) environment for implementation of traditional knowledge (TK) commons mechanisms, and which, if any, policy changes should be explored? Protection of traditional knowledge (TK) is an important intellectual property (IP) issue at both national and international levels. Many countries in Africa are in the process of drafting or implementing laws on the protection of TK. Where TK is held but not disseminated, it is at risk of dying out once the holder is no longer alive. It is thus necessary to facilitate the building of TK commons mechanisms, which can improve access to TK and enable open approaches to innovation for development. Certain policy frameworks are required if TK commons mechanisms are to be implemented. This study is investigating the dynamics of the current TK policy environment in Kenya in relation to commons mechanisms, including mechanisms such as digitisation of culture and creation of TK digital libraries.

Place-based IP (PBIP) and Open Development in Ethiopia and Ghana

How can place-based intellectual property (PBIP) strategies facilitate collaboration and openness for developmental purposes? Place-based intellectual property (PBIP) mechanisms range from sui generis geographical indication (GI) protections, to various forms of specialty trademarks, to different types of regulatory schemes. Based on case studies of existing initiatives in production and marketing of Ethiopian Coffee and Ghanaian Cocoa, this research aims to explore how and to what extent PBIP may allow local agricultural producers to collaboratively control their knowledge-based agricultural products in order to facilitate their participation in the global economy. As well, the study is examining the extent to which PBIP strategies could be adapted to suit the circumstances of small-scale economies, and the legislative framework that is needed to support PBIP initiatives.
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