Nicky Garnett has been appointed as Head of the Africa Patents Section

Nicky Garnett has been appointed as Head of the Africa Patents Section.

Garnett, who manages the Africa Patents Department, has extensive experience in the field of intellectual property, including the filing and prosecution of trade mark, patent and design applications, trade mark and copyright litigation, and the negotiating and drafting of licensing agreements.

Born in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, she completed her Cambridge A-level exams in 1992 and obtained a Bachelor of Arts and an LLB degree from the University of KwaZulu-Natal. Returning to Harare, she was admitted as a legal practitioner to the High Court of Zimbabwe in 1999. Garnett was involved in business software alliance anti-piracy activities in Zimbabwe and was involved in launching a number of anti-piracy programmes.

Garnett worked for a well-established firm in Harare with a large intellectual property practice, and took over the running of their IP department in 2003.  She moved to South Africa in 2008.

Garnett is also an experienced African Regional Intellectual Property Organisation (ARIPO) practitioner and maintains good relations with ARIPO officials in Harare.