News
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 The Adams & Adams team was assisted by learners from the school’s twin school, Tyger Valley College in Silver Lakes. Apart from volunteer reading, the team assisted grade 7 learners with basic computer training. The school has incorporated computer literacy as part of its curriculum. |
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 Stem cell research has been a controversial issue since it first emerged and presents a great legal and moral challenge. There is an ongoing debate on the morality of stem cell research. There are those who argue that stem cell research presents a great opportunity to study processes governing cell division and differentiation (the process whereby an unspecialised embryonic cell acquires the features of a specialised cell such as a heart, liver or muscle cell). Knowing the genetic and molecular controls of such processes will then reveal information about how genetic disorders and other birth defects arise, and assist in the development of new therapies to treat such defects. Stem cells may also be used to test new drugs, an example of this is the use of cancer cell lines used to screen potential anti-tumour drugs. Another possible use of stem cells is cell-based therapy. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved an embryonic stem cell clinical trial involving the injection of neural stem cells into paraplegics who have suffered a recent spinal cord injury. |
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 The Supreme Court of Appeal has handed down judgment in favour of On-Line Lottery Services (Pty) Limited (On-Line), in an appeal by that party against the judgment of Justice Motata in favour of The National Lotteries Board and its (then) sole licensee, Uthingo Management (Pty) Limited (Uthingo). Adams & Adams represented On-Line in its successful appeal. Briefly, On-Line trades as Lottofun and essentially provides an agency service that allows its registered members to place orders for lottery tickets in the National Lottery using the internet or a cellular telephone sms service. This avoids the need for people to stand in queues and tickets can conveniently be purchased from home etc in respect of the following lotto draw or draws thereafter. For this service, On-line charges customers a service fee of 15%. Customers are required to register by agreeing to a number of terms and conditions on On-Line's website, www.lottofun.co.za, before use can be made of the service and such terms and conditions clearly define the relationship as one of agency. |
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 Adams & Adams has appointed Theresa Wright as a partner in its Cape Town office. Theresa joined the firm in September 2009 in the Trade Marks Department. She specialises in trade mark searches, prosecution and enforcement. Theresa is also experienced in global trade mark portfolio management and related negotiations and drafting. She holds BA and LLB degrees from the University of Stellenbosch, a Masters degree (specialising in intellectual property law) from Unisa and a Graduate Diploma in Law (specialising in intellectual property) from Monash University in Australia. Theresa is also an Australian Trade Mark Attorney and a Solicitor of England and Wales. |
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 Adams & Adams has received a leading firm listing in the 14th edition of the Practical Law Company’s annual publication, Which Lawyer? Yearbook 2009. The publication states that Adams & Adams is the leading intellectual property firm in South Africa. It lists the firm’s chairman, Chris Job, among the world’s leading individuals, with Alan Smith and Gerard du Plessis listed as highly recommended individuals. Partners Dario Tanziani and Marilyn Krige are listed as recommended individuals. |
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 The Protection of Personal Information Bill, 2009 (“the Bill”) has been approved by cabinet. Although the Bill is not yet in force, there is an indication that parliament intends to pass it in time for the Soccer World Cup in 2010. Apart from the right to privacy in the Constitution, limited provisions in certain Acts and the common law, South Africa does not currently have any specific legislation that regulates the processing and protection of personal information (data protection). However, there is a need to bring South Africa’s legislation in line with international standards relating to data protection by way of a comprehensive statute. |
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 President Jacob Zuma has signed the Competition Amendment Bill into law. From the operative date, it will be a criminal offence in terms of the Competition Amendment Act (the Act) for a director or a manager of a firm to cause the firm to engage in cartel conduct, or to knowingly acquiesce in the firm’s involvement in cartel conduct. Directors and managers found guilty of these provisions could face imprisonment of up to 10 years, or a fine of up to R500 000, or both a fine and imprisonment. |
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 What do Jane Austen, zombies and copyright have to do with one other? Well, for starters, they are all dead, at least when it comes to Seth Grahame-Smith’s new mash-up book, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (Quirk Books, 2009), which is currently creating a buzz in literary circles. The book combines Jane Austen’s classic 1813 novel Pride and Prejudice with elements of zombie horror fiction. It is a parody which has some critics praising the sheer brilliance of the plot and others lamenting the “cannibalisation” of Austen’s classic tome. With their tongues planted firmly in their cheeks, the publishers of the book have billed it as “85% Austen’s original text and 15% brand-new blood and guts”. But what of the copyright in Austen’s original work? |
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 On 11 June 2009, the Department of Health published draft regulations under the Foodstuffs, Cosmetics and Disinfectants Act, 1972 in terms of which it is proposed to regulate coffee products in various forms. Interested persons may comment on the draft regulations before 11 September 2009. Though they are intended to provide clear trade descriptions of coffee products, the draft definitions do leave some areas of ambiguity. The draft regulations define “ground coffee”, “chicory” and “decaffeinated coffee”. They also distinguish between “decaffeinated ground coffee”, “decaffeinated instant coffee”, “mixed coffee or coffee mixture” and “coffee essence or extract”. The draft regulations include provisions to control the contents of chicory and coffee products that are sold together with milk and sugar, such as ready-to-drink coffee preparations. |
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 How much is a patent worth? In most cases, it is almost impossible to answer such a question. The European Patent Office (EPO) has released a new software tool for evaluating the prospects of patents or even ideas which have not yet become the subject matter of a patent application. The software, called IPscore, uses 40 assessment criteria as input to evaluate a patent or idea. IPscore is freely available on the EPO website and can provide a forecast of the monetary value of a patent or give guidance regarding possible opportunities and risks involved. By evaluating patents and patent portfolios, the EPO aims to help companies and universities effectively manage their intellectual property portfolios, thus enabling companies to eliminate so called “weak” patents, having high risk and low opportunity and to make more informed decisions on how to proceed with stronger patents based on generated forecasts. A downloadable user manual is available from the EPO website and the EPO offers training courses for users. So, what’s your IP score? To find out, visit the EPO website at: www.epo.org/patents/patent-information/business/valuation/ipscore.html |
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 On 1 June 2009, the US Supreme Court granted Bilski’s petition for a writ of certiorari (a procedure for seeking judicial review). The court had to consider the following two questions raised in the petition. • “Whether the Federal Circuit erred by holding that a ‘process’ must be tied to a particular machine or apparatus, or transform a particular article into a different state or thing (‘machine-or-transformation test’), to be eligible for patenting under US law, despite this Court’s precedent declining to limit the broad statutory grant of patent eligibility for ‘any’ new and useful process beyond excluding patents for ‘laws of nature, physical phenomena, and abstract ideas’?” • “Whether the Federal Circuit’s ‘machine-or–transformation’ test for patent eligibility, which effectively forecloses meaningful patent protection to many business methods, contradicts the clear Congressional intent that patents protect ‘method(s) of doing or conducting business’.” |
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 Current status of the review application in the matter between the LSSA and 3 others / RAF and Minister of Transport. (North Gauteng High Court Case nr 10654/09) 24 August 2009 On 21 August 2009 the Applicants served an amended Notice of Motion and supplementary affidavit on the Respondents, arising from the various records filed by the Respondents. The Notice of Motion was amended to include further grounds for declaring certain sections of the Road Accident Fund Act invalid. In terms of the Notice of Motion the Respondents will now have 30 (thirty) days (which will expire on 5 October 2009) to deliver any affidavits which they may desire in answer to the allegations made by the Applicants. The Applicants will then have until 19 October 2009 to reply thereto. Once all the affidavits have been filed, the Applicants will be in a position to apply for a date for the hearing of the review application. |
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 Alan Smith, a partner at Adams & Adams, has been named one of the "Best Lawyers in South Africa". This accolade came from the Law Review and the Business Day newspaper. Business Day published its Best Lawyers list in the 2009 Business Day Tax and Law Review. Alan, a trade mark and patent attorney, specialises in intellectual property litigation, mainly relating to trade marks, copyright and unlawful competition. He also deals with agreements, licensing and advertising disputes. He is a fellow and past President of the South African Institute of Intellectual Property Law and the author of various works on aspects of intellectual property law. |
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 Adams & Adams has been rated as a Top Performing Company in the attorneys’ business sector by Impumelelo for 2009. According to Stephen Paxton, associate publisher of Impumelelo, “the Top Performing publication profiles successful sustainable organisations in 150 business sectors of economy”. |
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 Worldwide filing of patent applications generally increases substantially every year, with China being one of the biggest contributors to the annual increase of worldwide patent filings. In 2005, China became the third largest patent filing country. According to the 2008 edition of the World Patent Report of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), China’s share of total worldwide patent fillings rose from 1.8% to 7.3% during the periods from 2000 to 2006. During the same periods, the total number of patent applications filed worldwide by applicants from China increased by 32.1%. |
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The firm practises directly in several Southern African countries and through long-established associates in others.
