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30 De Jure 227 (1997)
Teaching Intellectual Property Law in English-Speaking Africa: Current Status and Future Prospects and Trends

handle is hein.journals/dejur30 and id is 235 raw text is: Teaching intellectual property law in English-speaking Africa: Current status and future prospects and trends' Tana Pistorius BA LLM Senior Lecturer in Mercantile Law, University of South Africa Coenraad Visser BCom LLM Professor of Mercantile Law, University of South Africa OPSOMMING Die Onderrig van Intellektueelgoederereg in Engelssprekende Afrika: Die Huidige Posisie en Toekomstige Vooruitsigte en Tendense Tot betreklik onlangs was intellektueelgoedereg redelik afgeskeep deur univer- siteite in Engelssprekende Afrika. Daar was hoofsaaklik drie redes vir hierdie toestand. Eerstens was daar vroe~r weerstand teen die doseer van wettereg op universiteitsvlak. Tweedens het die tegniese aard van hierdie veld aanleiding gegee tot die beskouing dat hierdie vakgebied nie veel studente sal trek nie. Derdens was daar die probleem om behoorlik gekwalifiseerde dosente te vind. Die posisie het onlangs beduidend verander. Daar is drie redes vir hierdie ver- andering: die vinnige pas van tegnologiese verandering en vernuwing, die ver- vaging van landsgrense, en die harmonisering van hierdie vakgebied op inter- nasionale vlak. In die slotgedeelte van hierdie artikel word sekere tendense in die doseer van hierdie vakgebied en navorsing daaroor bespreek. 1 Introduction Until fairly recently, the teaching of intellectual property law has been rather neglected at most universities in English-speaking African countries. This situation was by no means unique to these developing countries: even in English-speaking industrialized countries, such as Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States,2 intellectual property law was not taught at any level at most universities. And where it was taught, it was not regarded as one of the so-called core courses in the legal curriculum. Instead, it was usually relegated to the status of an elective course with a small number of students. I This article is based on a paper delivered by Tana Pistorius at the WIPO Afro-Arab Regional Seminar on Teaching of Intellectual Property Law, organized by the World In- tellectual Property Organization in co-operation with the Government of the Arab Re- public of Egypt, Cairo, 9-11 December 1996, and a paper delivered by Coenraad Visser at the WIPO National Workshop on Intellectual Property Teaching and Research, and Drafting Patent Claims and Specifications, organized by the World Intellectual Property Organization in co-operation with the Government of Uganda, Kampala, 29 to 30 October 1996. 2 For a study of the position in these countries, see Naban The Teaching of Copyright in Countries with a Common-Law Tradition 1988 Copyright Bulletin 49. 227

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