Reforming patent law in South Africa: Social justice, human rights and big pharma

Abstract

Intellectual property (IP) can be defined as an idea or material that is legally protected from the unauthorised use thereof by other persons, and a person who has invented a particular pharmaceutical drug or medical product will apply for a patent to protect such an invention against counterfeiting and other infringements, which means that only such an inventor can benefit from the manufacturing of a product for a certain period of time, in exchange for public disclosure of the invention. 1 IP first emerged in South Africa as a result of the colonisation of the country by the English.2 As a result, South Africa’s IP system developed to match up to that of England.3 One of the main aims of the colonisers was to benefit themselves at the expense of the colonised.4 Resultantly, they introduced the concept of exclusive rights and monopolies.