{"id":{"repo_id":"cape-town","oai_identifier":"oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/9218"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/cape-town/oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/9218","repository":{"repo_id":"cape-town","name":"University of Cape Town","base_url":"https://open.uct.ac.za/oai/request"},"display":{"title":"Commercialisation of traditional knowledge in South Africa : whether the existing intellectual property framework encourages commercialisation","abstract":"The current available modes for protecting Intellectual Property (IP) in the Republic of South Africa (RSA) are Patents, Trade Secrets, Copyrights, Trademarks and Industrial Design. Common law remedies are also available to parties whose rights have been infringed. The legislations governing these Intellectual Property (IP) regimes were passed at different periods, some before South Africa became a republic in 1963 and others thereafter, while others were passed after the abolition of apartheid in 1990. For those legislations passed before the Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs) in 1994, the RSA had to amend or repeal and enact laws which are TRIPs compatible. However, an area of IP for Indigenous people, also known as Traditional Knowledge (TK), has not been adequately protected due to complexities which cannot be accommodated by an international IP regime. This has led to poor or inadequate commercialisation of TK. TK is also not provided for by TRIPs, thus relegating it further. The scope of this paper is limited to commercialisation of TK. However, it must be appreciated that commercialisation cannot take place in a vacuum. Thus protection of TK is a prerequisite to its commercialisation.","abstract_html":"The current available modes for protecting Intellectual Property (IP) in the Republic of South Africa (RSA) are Patents, Trade Secrets, Copyrights, Trademarks and Industrial Design. Common law remedies are also available to parties whose rights have been infringed. The legislations governing these Intellectual Property (IP) regimes were passed at different periods, some before South Africa became a republic in 1963 and others thereafter, while others were passed after the abolition of apartheid in 1990. For those legislations passed before the Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs) in 1994, the RSA had to amend or repeal and enact laws which are TRIPs compatible. However, an area of IP for Indigenous people, also known as Traditional Knowledge (TK), has not been adequately protected due to complexities which cannot be accommodated by an international IP regime. This has led to poor or inadequate commercialisation of TK. TK is also not provided for by TRIPs, thus relegating it further. The scope of this paper is limited to commercialisation of TK. However, it must be appreciated that commercialisation cannot take place in a vacuum. Thus protection of TK is a prerequisite to its commercialisation.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Agan, William"],"institution":"Intellectual Property Research Unit","degree_name":null,"degree_level":null,"degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":["Tong, Lee-Ann"],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2013,"date_issued":"2013","date_published":"2013","updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:23:27Z","subjects":[],"languages":["eng"],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"http://hdl.handle.net/11427/9218","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier.uri"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor.advisor","label":"Advisor","values":["Tong, Lee-Ann"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Agan, William"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.accessioned","label":"Dc Date Accessioned","values":["2014-11-05T03:59:29Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2014-11-05T03:59:29Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.issued","label":"Date","values":["2013"]},{"key":"dc:publisher.department","label":"Dc Publisher Department","values":["Intellectual Property Research Unit"]},{"key":"dc:publisher.institution","label":"Dc Publisher Institution","values":["University of Cape Town"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Master Thesis"]},{"key":"dc:type.qualificationlevel","label":"Dc Type Qualificationlevel","values":["Masters"]},{"key":"dc:type.qualificationname","label":"Dc Type Qualificationname","values":["LLM"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language.iso","label":"Language (ISO)","values":["eng"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.uri","label":"Identifier URI","values":["http://hdl.handle.net/11427/9218"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description","label":"Description","values":["Includes bibliographical references."]},{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["The current available modes for protecting Intellectual Property (IP) in the Republic of South Africa (RSA) are Patents, Trade Secrets, Copyrights, Trademarks and Industrial Design. Common law remedies are also available to parties whose rights have been infringed. The legislations governing these Intellectual Property (IP) regimes were passed at different periods, some before South Africa became a republic in 1963 and others thereafter, while others were passed after the abolition of apartheid in 1990. For those legislations passed before the Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs) in 1994, the RSA had to amend or repeal and enact laws which are TRIPs compatible. However, an area of IP for Indigenous people, also known as Traditional Knowledge (TK), has not been adequately protected due to complexities which cannot be accommodated by an international IP regime. This has led to poor or inadequate commercialisation of TK. TK is also not provided for by TRIPs, thus relegating it further. The scope of this paper is limited to commercialisation of TK. However, it must be appreciated that commercialisation cannot take place in a vacuum. Thus protection of TK is a prerequisite to its commercialisation."]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Commercialisation of traditional knowledge in South Africa : whether the existing intellectual property framework encourages commercialisation"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor.advisor":["Tong, Lee-Ann"],"dc:creator":["Agan, William"],"dc:date.accessioned":["2014-11-05T03:59:29Z"],"dc:date.available":["2014-11-05T03:59:29Z"],"dc:date.issued":["2013"],"dc:description":["Includes bibliographical references."],"dc:description.abstract":["The current available modes for protecting Intellectual Property (IP) in the Republic of South Africa (RSA) are Patents, Trade Secrets, Copyrights, Trademarks and Industrial Design. Common law remedies are also available to parties whose rights have been infringed. The legislations governing these Intellectual Property (IP) regimes were passed at different periods, some before South Africa became a republic in 1963 and others thereafter, while others were passed after the abolition of apartheid in 1990. For those legislations passed before the Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs) in 1994, the RSA had to amend or repeal and enact laws which are TRIPs compatible. However, an area of IP for Indigenous people, also known as Traditional Knowledge (TK), has not been adequately protected due to complexities which cannot be accommodated by an international IP regime. This has led to poor or inadequate commercialisation of TK. TK is also not provided for by TRIPs, thus relegating it further. The scope of this paper is limited to commercialisation of TK. However, it must be appreciated that commercialisation cannot take place in a vacuum. Thus protection of TK is a prerequisite to its commercialisation."],"dc:identifier.uri":["http://hdl.handle.net/11427/9218"],"dc:language.iso":["eng"],"dc:publisher.department":["Intellectual Property Research Unit"],"dc:publisher.institution":["University of Cape Town"],"dc:title":["Commercialisation of traditional knowledge in South Africa : whether the existing intellectual property framework encourages commercialisation"],"dc:type":["Master Thesis"],"dc:type.qualificationlevel":["Masters"],"dc:type.qualificationname":["LLM"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:23:27Z"}