INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
Innovation must be embraced as driver of economic growth
Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi put it more bluntly, telling a news conference that the main goal was 'cheaper drugs for the public and private healthcare sector in SA'
In June the Cabinet made healthcare the focus of the first phase of its new intellectual property (IP) policy. The government hopes the policy will better co-ordinate SA’s fragmented IP laws and balance private rights with those woven into the Constitution, such as the right to health. Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi put it more bluntly, telling a news conference that the main goal was "cheaper drugs for the public and private healthcare sector in SA". The fine detail is not yet set, but the direction is clear: companies will find it far harder in future to get patents. Moreover, patents granted in SA will be easier to override in the name of public health. In this SA seems to want to emulate India, with its long-held scepticism of IP rights and laws shaped to prioritise generic drug manufacturing. Despite its political attractions, this oppositional approach in which IP rights are viewed as a zero-sum game is looking increasingly outdated. Some of SA’s key competitors already real...
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