JOK Governance

In responding to the aspirations of Africa Agenda 2063, more than 54 member states of the African Union (AU) signed an agreement to create the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). The agreement is underpinned by the AU’s vision to build an integrated, prosperous, and peaceful Africa that is a dynamic force in the international arena. Presently, Namibia is among the 28 African Union (AU) member states that deposited their instruments of ratification with the African Union. The AfCFTA is considered the world's largest free-trade zone since the establishment of the World Trade Organization in 1994 and the numbers of countries that participate in AfCFTA speak volumes. AfCFTA entered into force on 30 May 2019, and the trading under the agreement was due to commence on 1 July 2020, however, due to COVID-19 global pandemic, this date has since been postponed indefinitely.   This article ponders on importance of intellectual property protection within the free trade zone (AFC...

You may have observed in newspapers and court proceedings that disputes related to intellectual property rights are increasing at an alarming rate. The status quo is not shocking is for the obvious reason; Intellectual Property (IP) has become a tradable commodity and made up 70 percent of total assets on Statement of Financial Position (SFP) of big enterprises. Certainly, such disputes are propelled by rights and benefits issues. With a general acceptance that modern invention is performed by inventors in their garages, few would differ with me that today most patentable inventive activities occur in corporate organization, and university settings, however most individuals who would be labeled inventors are employees of these institutions. With IP gaining momentum and best practices coming to light following the promulgation of IP laws, tug of war within the IP arena both in Namibia and around the world are probable.  In this article, I will discourse the issue of commiss...