Intellectual Property

We hope the papers in this symposium will contribute to the ongoing efforts worldwide to achieve epistemological and methodological diversity in the IEL discipline. As a new Forum, we aim to remain flexible, experimental and responsive to the changing landscape in IEL. We will like to take this opportunity to thank the academics who have supported the Academic Forum over the last two years. We hope we can continue to count on your support as we devise robust and practical ways to decolonise and pluralise IEL research, scholarship and practice as a counterpoint to the dominant Western-centric IEL imagination.

Oke’s book Patents, Human Rights and Access to Medicines, is a timely and valuable contribution to the literature in this area. Its timeliness is due to the global context of the COVID-19 pandemic since 2019. The discussion of the import of patents to access to medicines, from a human rights lens is a critical endeavour which has been undertaken by several scholars. The seminal Intellectual Property, Human Rights and Access to Medicines-A Selected and Annotated Bibliography, now in its 3rd edition (Velásquez, Correa and Ido, 2020) curates the majority of this literature.

The book is a must-read for policymakers, governments, regional communities, students, researchers, health practitioners and anyone that may be interested in 'the access to medicine for all' campaign. The depth of analysis and critical thinking renders the author's arguments very persuasive and practical. It will stimulate the readers to view patent law and policy as a ‘work in progress’ rather than being ‘cast in stone’ and get them thinking about how it can be further improved. The book is highly recommended.

The Forum welcomes submissions covering a wide range of international economic law topics – trade, investment, finance, tax, labor, intellectual property, data, and other topics reflective of the broad nature of the field. Scholars who have previously presented in the IEL‐Forum are not eligible to apply.

The News and Events published every week include conferences, major developments in the field of International Economic Law in Africa at the national, sub-regional and regional levels as well as relevant case law.

One outstanding feature of this book is that it provides significant historical information on the operations of CMOs in the sample countries and discusses some important cases in CMO management even as it highlights the nexus between the operation of CMOs and the application of competition law to their regulations. The book is to be recommended to students and specialists in the field of law, especially IP and Competition law in Africa and the rest of the developing world. Dr. Oriakhogba in writing this book, has made a valuable contribution to the discourse in this area and laid the foundation for further study of it.

Dr Desmond Oriakhogba’s work, Copyright Collective Management Organisations and Competition in Africa is poised to become a seminal reference work in the field of collective management, for a number of reasons: first, it is one of only a paucity of dedicated full texts on the subject of collective management in Africa; secondly, it is the first such text to explore in-depth the question of the application of competition law in the area of collective management – a subject-matter that has been fully explored in other mature jurisdictions such as the United States and the European Union, but hardly considered within the African context; thirdly, it explores the law and practices in three key jurisdictions in the South, the East and the West of Africa; and fourthly, it is an expertly written text and a veritable scholarly work, while simultaneously written in a flowing, easy-to-follow style making for a good long-weekend read.

The collective management of copyright and related rights (collective management) is fast growing in Africa and continues to contribute to the growth of the copyright-based industry not just in the individual African countries, but also on a continental level. It contributes by facilitating access to copyright works for users, generating revenue for copyright owners, creating job opportunities and promoting creativity and social welfare, particularly for Africa’s youthful and vibrant creators. As such, collective management continue to remain a key component of the economic activities happening within the copyright-based industries in Africa.

This edited collection of 24 Africa experts with diverse academic and practice focused backgrounds is divided into 5 parts and 24 chapters. The focus of the book is to establish African Union (AU) law as a focal point for the development of African countries. It provides a rich vein of scholarly literature which might not always be apparent to international researchers and practitioners. The ambition is to use regional integration law as a springboard for legal and socio-economic growth by avoiding national law failures that have undermined the development of the African continent.

The overarching ambition of the book is to advance the conversation on the norm generating aspects of the work of the AU, its organs and its institutions. The broad proposition presented collectively by the contributions is that the AU has become a standards generating regional institution, and that this capacity is rapidly evolving.