As Nelson Mandela wisely said: "A good head and a good heart are always a formidable combination." IP specialists and creators are among the brightest people in commerce, and we all know innovation is the key to international development. With this spirit, the South African Department of Science and Technology and its co-sponsors encourage you to attend a conference on "Accelerating Intellectual Property and Innovation in South Africa," to be held on September 18-20, 2011 in Cape Town, at the Cape Sun Hotel. This conference is an opportunity for patent and innovation specialists internationally to share best practices with their peers in South Africa, in a forum designed to create networking and future business opportunities with the goal to expand South Africa's growing domestic capability.
This conference also provides the opportunity to celebrate a huge accomplishment by South Africa, which recently became the first developing country in the world to pass transformational legislation allowing publicly funded universities and scientific research councils to own the IP they generate and to commercialize it for the benefit of the country and the world. The newly promulgated "Intellectual Property Rights from Publicly Financed Research and Development Act" (51 of 2008) also establishes a new office to administer the legislation, the National IP Management Office ("NIPMO"). The U.S. Bayh Dole Act fundamentally changed the landscape of the biotechnology industry in the U.S. South Africa has now designed its own unique path to create and grow innovator companies, becoming an inspiring model for other developing countries.
The lead sponsor of the event is the South African Department of Science and Technology. The Co-Organizing Chairs of the event are Sherry Knowles, Knowles Intellectual Property Strategies, Atlanta GA (former Chief Patent Counsel, GlaxoSmithKline) and McLean Sibanda, Chief Executive Officer, The Innovation Hub, Pretoria ZA (instrumental in drafting and facilitating the new IPR legislation).
Key speakers currently include:
• Chief Judge Randall Rader of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
• Judge Brian Southwood, Gauteng High Court, Pretoria South Africa
• Teresa Rea, Deputy Commissioner of the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office
• Phil Mjwara, Director General of Department of Science and Technology of South Africa
• Todd Dickinson, Executive Director of the AIPLA
• The impending Chief Director, National IP Management Office of South Africa
• James Pooley, Deputy Director General for Innovation and Technology, World Intellectual Property Organization
• John Whealan, Associate Dean for IP, George Washington Law School
• Roy F. Waldron, Chief IP Counsel, Pfizer Corp.
• Professor Tana Pistorious, University of South Africa, Professor of Mercantile Law
• Guobin Cui, Associate Professor, Tsinghua University, School of Law, Beijing, China
• Anthony E. Lockett, M.D., Medical Director and Regulatory Consultant, Information Change Ltd.
• McLean Sibanda, CEO The Innovation Hub, Pretoria ZA
• Sherry Knowles. Knowles Intellectual Property Strategies
The panel on entrepreneurial approaches to IP creation will include Professor Dennis C. Liotta, the Samuel Chandler Dobbs Professor of Chemistry at Emory University, co-inventor of HIV drug Emtricitabine which is a key component of Gilead's HIV drugs Truvada and Atripla, and co-founder of iThemba Pharmaceuticals, a drug discovery company in South Africa focused on developing drugs for neglected tropical diseases; and Dr. Frank Litvack, a prominent interventional cardiologist, former Co-Director of the Interventional Cardiology Center at Cedars Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, Professor of Cardiology at UCLA School of Medicine, and successful serial entrepreneur of medical device and pharmaceutical companies.
A Welcome Reception will be held Sunday evening, September 18. The conference dinner Tuesday September 20 will serve as the formal introduction of South Africa's new legislation and implementing agency by the Department of Science and Technology. It will also give participants and attendees the opportunity to commend the country for this impressive step to expand a domestic innovator industry which is capable of contributing to African and global advancement.
The Agenda currently includes the following panels over two days:
Panel 1 -- The Role of the Judiciary and the Court System in Shaping IP Policy
Panel 2 -- Private Ownership of Federally Funded Research: Strategy, Implementation, Goals and Challenges in Developing Countries
Panel 3 -- IP Education and Capacity Development for Intellectual Property and Innovation in Developing Countries
Panel 4 -- Creating a Model Patent Office for Developing Countries
Panel 5 -- Entrepreneurial Approaches to Creating IP and Innovation -- Adapting Approaches for Developing Countries
Panel 6 -- Accelerating Commercialization and Attracting Foreign Direct Investment
Panel 7 -- Regulatory Aspects of Product Development and Commercialization -- Data Exclusivity and Acceleration of Drug and Device Approvals in Developing Countries
The website for registration will open May 2, 2011. Please contact JudyLane Consulting (London), the conference organizers, with any inquiries ([email protected] or [email protected]) or Ms. Nomkhosi Madwe, Director: Operations and Special Projects: National Intellectual Property Management Office, Department of Science and Technology, South Africa ([email protected]).
Comments