Intellectual Property Pact With UN Aims to Boost Economic Development

A new agreement signed between the United Nations World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and Ghana aims to boost the West African nation’s economic development and bolster its standing with the international business community.
WIPO Director General Dr. Kamil Idris welcomed the development, saying it “marked a new chapter” in the agency’s cooperation with Ghana. The Intellectual Property Development Plan “offered a comprehensive and coherent approach to establishing a robust intellectual property framework that will support the country’s development objectives,” he added. 

Buying pirated goods promotes crime

South Africans complain about the level of crime in the country but happily deprive composers and artists of their income by purchasing fake or pirated goods, says Chris Job, Chairman of Adams and Adams, leading attorneys in intellectual property law. 

“It is shocking that a high proportion of South Africans, about 20 percent, are quite unconcerned about buying pirated CDs and DVDs, as found in a recent study by TNS Research Surveys.  These buyers give no thought to copyright or other intellectual property rights and make a significant contribution to the problem. 

100 years for city law firm

Chris Job is back in the chairman’s seat of city law firm Adams and Adams, which this year celebrates 100 years (Zelda Venter, Pretoria News). Download PDF.

Kenyan seeks top post in property rights body

April 23, 2008: The Government has nominated Prof James Otieno-Odek to vie for the position of Director General of the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO).

Prof Otieno-Odek, who is the only applicant from Africa, has been seconded by the African Union.

He has been actively involved in the field of global and local intellectual rights, besides chairing various world committees on intellectual rights, including the WIPO Standing Committee. 

International plaudits for Adams & Adams

Adams and Adams has been acknowledged as a leading firm in the 2008 edition of the Practical Law Company’s annual publication, Which Lawyer. The company is the United Kingdom’s primary provider of legal know-how, transactional analysis and market intelligence for business lawyers. 

The publication notes that Adams and Adams has the largest intellectual property law practice in South Africa and lists chairman Chris Job as one of the countries’ leading practitioners in the field, with Alan Smith and Gerard du Plessis listed as highly recommended. Partners Dario Tanziani and Marilyn Krige are identified as recommended practitioners.