Vol. LIII No. 4
Decemberr 2018
LES NEWS GLOBAL
Highlights
A D V A N C I N G
Meetings
Societies’ News
T H E
B U S I N E S S
O F
New Members
I N T E L L E C T U A L
P R O P E R T Y
Reviews G L O B A L L Y
LES South Africa
LES South Africa Event Highlights
T
he long-awaited Intellectual Property Policy of the Republic of South Africa Phase I was published and confirmed the important change to the patent system by introducing examination and opposition proceedings. The mechanism for implementation is under review and Phase II will address issues identified in the inbuilt agenda and deliberate upon the most efficient means of implementing the policy proposals. LES South Africa celebrated World IP
Day in Cape Town and Johannesburg venues in April and May respectively. This year the theme was “Powering Change: Women in Innovation and Creativity” and was well attended by our members and guests. The LESI International Conference in San Diego in April/May received a talk from one of our members, Dr. Kerry Faul, Head of National Intellectual Property Management Office (NIPMO), on technology transfer and management thereof in view of the South African IP Rights Act. The AGM was held in August during which the new Board and LES South Africa Executive Committee were elected. On the LES education front, it has Afternoon Talk! On 11 October 2018, LES South Africa arranged an afternoon talk and networking event. The speaker, Michael Fichardt, cofounder and CEO of OneBio, an African biotech incubator and alumnus of Singularity University, presented a talk on the exponential advances in technology and how it impacts the world around us. From tissue culture meatballs to the inevitability of self-driving vehicles and drone delivery of blood transfusion products in Nigeria. As an indication of the acceleration in the innovation space, Ray Kurzweil’s law of accelerating returns were quoted, which proposes that we won’t experience 100 years of progress in the 21st century but rather 20,000 years’ of progress at today’s rate. The interactive discussion with the audience was concluded with the thought that humankind would need to ensure that our tenets of humanity and our individual and collective values are not lost along the way.
been quite a busy year with afternoon talks on relevant topics and a newly developed IP Valuation Advanced Course in June. In October, we hosted an interesting talk by Michael Fichardt (see insert below). Our members publish articles in les Nouvelles on current topics regularly and Dr. Kleyn’s article on BEPS and IP was featured in the June edition.
New Approaches The newly elected board of LES South Africa has made its committee portfolio allocations for 2019. The aim for the new year is to more actively engage our members, enhance visibility and growth of membership through marketing initiatives. We hope to host the LESI President during our AGM in August in 2019. Two new committees will be mobilized in 2019: •The YMC managed by Chyreene Truluck and Robynne Zevenster who are planning some exciting events for our young members; and •Life Sciences head up by Dr. Joanne van Harmelen. The opportunity was identified in view of the strong presence amongst LES South Africa members in the life sciences. It is anticipated that the planned mentoring, training and networking sessions focusing on IP transactions, interests and challenges within the life sciences, and leveraging the very active LESI Life Sciences Committee resources will also attract new membership to the society. Our Board and allocated committees are pictured on Page 11. From South Africa, we wish our LES family a blessed festive season and a 2019 filled with LES events. ■