Dr. Kakooza “Dealing with Trans-Border Quasi-Intellectual Property”

In October 2010, Yoweri Museveni, the President of Uganda, recorded a rap song titled: "Do You Want Another Rap?" as part of his re-election campaign to capture the imagination of young voters. The song was a huge success and may have played a part in his reelection. When Museveni applied for a copyright registration of the song, however, members of the Ankole community filed an objection stating that the song was derived from Ankole folklore. While the Registrar of Copyrights in Uganda eventually allowed Museveni's copyright application for registration, this case triggered Dr. Anthony Conrad K. Kakooza's interest in the area of traditional cultural expressions (TCEs) and whether TCEs should be recognized within the domain of intellectual property (IP) law.

A Cross-Regional Research Partnership for Sustainable Development: The Open African Innovation...

This paper positions and critiques the Open African Innovation Research (Open AIR) network as a unique cross-regional PPP research platform. It examines, on empirical and theoretical perspectives, the elements of the Open AIR project, including its core driving factors relevant to the development gap associated with IP and knowledge governance in Africa.

How DIY Biology can Improve Access to Digital Agricultural Technologies

By Vipal Jain Digital agricultural research is transforming the way crops are developed. New tools can speed up the ability to produce crops with higher...

Evidence-based Intellectual Property Policymaking

Authored by: Jeremy de Beer Abstract: Governments have long been interested in making intellectual property (IP) policy based on sound evidence. There is a large...

A Data Commons for Food Security

Agricultural data is globally recognized for its importance in addressing food insecurity. We propose a ‘data commons’, formed through a licensing model that allows farmers to benefit from the datasets to which they contribute.

Reconciling Copyright with Creativity: New Insights from 2018 Conferences (Part II)

By Helen Chuma-Okoro and Nicole Tumaine This is part two of Helen Chuma-Okoro and Nicole Tumaine’s blog post on the insights retained from 2018 conferences,...

Les Fablabs en Afrique : une utopie à l’épreuve des...

By Thomas Hervé Mboa Nkoudou Du 6 au 10 mai 2018, la ville de Dakar accueillait le Festival Afropixel 6 sur la thématique « Utopies non-alignées :...

Innovation and Intellectual Property: Collaborative Dynamics in Africa

Editors: Jeremy de Beer, Chris Armstrong, Chidi Oguamanam and Tobias SchonwetterPublication Date: 2014Download: Innovation and Intellectual Property: Collaborative Dynamics in Africa (PDF, EPUB) Innovation and...

A Framework for Assessing Technology Hubs in Africa

Authored by: Jeremy de Beer, Paula Millar, Jacquelene Mwangi, Victor Nzomo, and Isaac Rutenberg Abstract: This article fills a gap in the research on technology hubs...

Ramifications of the WIPO IGC for IP and Development

Authored by: Chidi Oguamanam. Over the years, the idea of traditional knowledge has progressively unraveled as a traction point for complex issue linkages between intellectual property and, for example, genetic resources, biodiversity conservation, the rights of Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities (ILCs), food, nutritional and environmental security.