News
 Union-Swiss, the Applicant, is a manufacturer and supplier of a skin care product under the trade mark Bio-Oil which has as its principal ingredient a synthetic preen gland oil identified by the trade mark Purcellin Oil. Medpro Pharmaceutica (Pty) Ltd (t/a Cipla Medpro), the Respondent, formulated a directly competitive product under the trade mark Oil La Sante and listed Purcellin Oil as one of its ingredients. The Applicant, the proprietor of a trade mark registration for Purcellin Oil, instituted proceedings against the Respondent based on trade mark infringement in the Cape High Court. |
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 The Final Appeal Committee of the Advertising Standards Authority (“the ASA”) recently ruled in favour of Procter & Gamble (“P&G”) against Kimberly-Clark of South Africa (Pty) Limited (“KC”). |
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 The large fine recently imposed by the Competition Commission for price fixing has emphasised the need for companies to be proactive in complying with competition law. The Competition Commission imposed a R46.3 million fine on listed construction and engineering company Aveng, in accordance with a consent agreement. The agreement is subject to approval by the Competition Tribunal. |
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 Finance Minister Trevor Manuel delivered the Budget speech on 11 February 2009. Here we note some of the tax issues that may affect businesses and individuals. |
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 On 1 January 2009, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) introduced a new service for patent applicants: searching for relevant prior art in languages not covered by the initial international search. The International Search Authority gives Patent Co-operation Treaty (PCT) applicants a good idea of whether they should incur the cost of filing national phase applications. However, it does not search documents published in languages it is not skilled in. |
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 Patent litigation in South Africa often forms part of a global patent litigation strategy where corresponding patents in jurisdictions such as the US and Europe are also in play. The patentee may decide to settle the litigation on a global basis, resulting in the litigation being withdrawn in South Africa too. But patentees should make sure the settlement agreement complies with the Competition Act. In the pharmaceutical sector, the parties sometimes agree that in return for the patentee’s withdrawal of an action for infringement against a generic company, the generic company will launch a competing generic product only a few years after the patentee’s patent expires. This essentially extends the exclusivity of the patentee in respect of its product beyond the life of the patent. |
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  Adams & Adams recently had the honour of hosting a delegation from the Japanese Group of the International Association for the Protection of Intellectual Property (AIPPI). The General Manager of the International IP Legislation Research Office, Mr Keiji Iwata and the Project Manager, Mr Tsutomu Yoshioka, visited South Africa on a fact-finding mission. |
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On Monday, 26 January 2009, a World Trade Organisation (WTO) dispute settlement panel decided in favour of the U.S. on issues relating to China’s Intellectual Property Rights regime. The U.S. alleged that China adopted a slack approach to the enforcement of copyright and trademark violations. The WTO panel agreed and found that certain parts of China’s Intellectual Property scheme are incoherent with its obligations in respect of several international treaties, the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) being one such treaty. The panel reported that certain provisions of China’s copyright law are inconsistent with the TRIPS Agreement since they “nullify or impair benefits accruing to the United States.” Peter Allgeier, acting U.S. Trade Representative had the following to say: |
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Directors and persons in "management authority" can breathe a sigh of relief as the Competition Amendment Bill (the Bill) has been sent back to the drawing board (the National Assembly) by President Kgalema Motlanthe amidst concerns that the Bill may be unconstitutional. The Bill aims, inter alia, at criminalizing the conduct of such persons in causing their firms to conduct their affairs in an anticompetitive manner. The Bill also extends to instances wherein such persons knowingly acquiesce to such conduct. |
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Developments contained in the Competition Amendment Bill (B31D-2008) have emphasised the importance of complying with competition law as part of corporate governance and risk management. |
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 After conducting an internal investigation petrochemical giant Sasol has decided to approach the Competition Commission to come clean on possible transgressions of the Competition Act. The move has been welcomed by analysts who are of the view that Sasol is taking the moral high ground, no doubt hard on the heals of the hefty fine recently imposed on Sasol by the European Competition Commission. |
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 The latest decision on the patent matter between pharmaceutical manufacturers Lundbeck and Cipla Medpro has again gone against Lundbeck. The case highlights the importance of amending the claims of a South African patent as soon as possible so that they conform to the amended claims of a corresponding patent that has been examined in another jurisdiction or that has been amended as a result of litigation. |
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Adams & Adams appointed Stuart Boyd as Chief Operating Officer in September 2008. Stuart, a Chartered Accountant, was a consultant to the office of the Auditor General from 2007, implementing financial management improvements. Prior to that he was with Nedbank, a major South African bank, where he held various executive positions, including at Swisscard, in Switzerland. |
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Adams & Adams has been ranked second as ideal employer by South African law graduates in the recently released Magnet Communication survey for 2008. The firm was also voted as one of the top 20 ideal employers by graduates in the humanities category (including BA graduates). |
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 Brett Oldridge, partner at Adams & Adams is ranked among the world’s top twenty most highly regarded trademark lawyers. Brett is listed as such in the 2008 edition of Who’s Who Business Lawyers, one of the most prestigious publications covering the who’s who of the legal world. Trade mark law is one of the most internationalised legal fields as companies attempt to defend their marks in an increasingly globalised world. |
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The firm practises directly in several Southern African countries and through long-established associates in others.
