Bringing you the latest news and views from across Africa.
A new set of regulations has been published under the Agricultural Product Standards Act governing the classification, packing, and marking of mayonnaise, salad cream, salad dressing, and salad oil dressing intended for sale in the Republic of South Africa.
From the roar of the crowd to the split-second finish at the line, sport is built on performance. But behind every world record, lighter racket, smarter ball or faster shoe lies a quieter competition; one fought in research labs, design studios and before Patent Offices. Innovation is the unseen athlete of modern sport and patents are its medals.
The decision in Latib v Bonitas Medical Fund provides a clear cautionary reminder of a foundational principle of intellectual property law: only the owner of intellectual property, or a party authorised by the owner, may enforce rights in that property. Although the matter arose in the context of contractual and settlement disputes, the case ultimately turned on a decisive intellectual property issue.
The National Consumer Commission (‘NCC’) has delivered a significant decision which can only have wide-ranging implications for suppliers in the pre-owned motor vehicle industry. In a landmark enforcement action, the NCC has imposed sanctions against We Buy Cars (‘WBC’) for various contraventions of the Consumer Protection Act 68 of 2008 (‘CPA), reinforcing the limitation of the supplier’s ability to contract out of statutory provisions which seek to protect consumers and their rights.
The North West High Court recently decided in favor of the protection of a company’s confidential information and trade secrets involving two former senior employees. DISPRO TECH SA (PTY) LTD (the applicant), a specialist gas emission testing company in the mining sector (one of its kind in South Africa), approached the court after discovering that two of its former senior employees established a competing business shortly after leaving employment.
The Unified Patent Court (UPC) has changed European patent litigation from a set of national contests into a single high-stakes forum in many cases. For South African practitioners and clients who file through the EPO, this is significant since claim construction now affects both pan-European enforcement and pan-European revocation. During the transitional period (until 31 May 2030), conventional European patents may still be litigated nationally or opt out of the UPC. However, once you have opted in, you cannot opt out of Unitary Patents.
