Intellectual Property Rights and Innovation: Assessing Regional Integration in Africa (ARIA VIII)

Open AIR (African Innovation Research) Network
Working Paper No. 5 (2017)
Co-authored with Caroline Ncube, Tobias Schonwetter, and Jeremy de Beer

To assist trade policymakers in the development of a framework, this paper explores IP issues, perspectives, and priorities related to both the CFTA and PAIPO. It suggests that process and substance issues are each important to create fair and balanced IP systems on the continent that stimulate innovation, growth, and competition. To this end, the paper’s suggested framework draws significantly on the Max Planck Principles for Intellectual Property Provisions in Bilateral and Regional Agreements (the Principles for IP Provisions, or just Principles), adapted for a distinctly African context.

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