IPR Act

The IPR Act (No. 51 of 2008: Intellectual Property Rights from Publicly Financed Research and Development Act, 2008 was promulgated on 22 December 2008 and commenced on 2 August 2010 following the publication of a proclamation for its’ commencement in the Government Gazette.

 

A presumption against retrospectivity exists and hence one can assume that the IPR Act applies prospectively.  This means that the IPR Act only applies to IP created after the commencement of the IPR Act (from 2 August 2010 onwards).3 

 

It should be noted that the IPR Act also applies to improvements (so-called foreground IP) on existing IP (so-called background IP) which was publicly financed, resulted from research and development (R&D) and created after 2 August 2010. In this case only the improvements will fall within the IPR Act.

 

The application and interpretation of the Act is guided by the Regulations made in terms of Section 17 of the Intellectual Property Rights from Publicly Financed Research and Development Act, 2008 (Act No. 51 of 2008) and NIPMO Practice Notes and guidelines.

 

To assist our researchers, we refer you to the helpful guide SARIMA prepared the IP Wise Manual to provide an overview of Intellectual Property as well as your rights and obligations in terms of the IPR Act.