South Africa’s IP lesson for America

[Commentary] The US is not alone in struggling with the right policy for intellectual property. Here, the big questions revolve around the gobbling up of large numbers of patents by aggregators who aren’t innovators. But in developing nations, the questions are far more basic.

In September 2013, the South African Department of Trade and Industry issued a 44-page draft National Policy on Intellectual Property. It has become the subject of heated discussion. The policy, which could become the basis of legislation, proceeds from the premise that as a developing economy, South Africa should be able to suspend or abrogate the IP rights of patent holders from richer nations so that South Africans can make use of their inventors at low, or no, cost. Special targets are pharmaceutical and software Internet Protocol. What’s happening in South Africa is a good lesson for developed nations as well. In today’s world, IP policy counts. It can’t be held hostage to short-term political considerations or sloppy economics.

(Nov 29)