Home -> Law Blog Directory -> Intellectual Property Law Blogs -> IPKat

Intellectual Property Law

: IPKat

The Commonwealth Business Council: has it a role in developing IP internationally?

By Johanna Gibson, David Pearce, Jeremy Phillips and Ilanah Simon.

Chairing the "IP in Africa" session of the Licensing Executives Society (LES) Britain & Ireland Annual Conference today, IPKat team blogger Jeremy came across an organisation he'd never heard of before, the Commonwealth Business Council (CBC). Representing the CBC was Peter Longworth CMG, who described the Council's constitution and functions, describing its current interest in at least two fairly sensitive IP issues: counterfeit medicines in Africa as a whole and the absence of cogent copyright protection to support Nigeria's Nollywood film industry.

Do any readers of this weblog have any experience of the CBC which they can share here? Is it another valuable catalyst for achieving further and balanced progress in the protection of IP in developing countries (which is what most of the Commonwealth's members are), or is it merely a tiresomely duplicative Johnny-come-lately that will be of no real relevance in the increasingly crowded international IP arena? Please post your comments below or email the IPKat, with the subject headline "CBC", here.

More on the Commonwealth here
The original Commonwealth here
More on IP in Africa here

Full post as published by IPKat on July 02, 2008 (boomark / email).