South Africa: Intellectual Property Laws Amendment Act 2013 (Act No. 28 of 2013)

December 10, 2013

South Africa: The Intellectual Property Laws Amendment Act 2013 (Act No. 28 of 2013) shall come into force on a date to be fixed by the President. The Law aims to provide mechanisms for the protection of indigenous knowledge and to create a new system of intellectual property rights specific to traditional knowledge in South Africa.

To that end, it amends the provisions relating to indigenous knowledge of various intellectual property laws, namely, the Performers’ Protection Act 1967, the Copyright Act 1978, the Trade Marks Act 1993 and theDesigns Act 1993.