| Based on the international legal framework as established by the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS), the author discusses the approach to GI protection under South African law. While South Africa has not introduced a registration system with regard to GIs, it relies, amongst other approaches, on common law approaches to defending GIs. The author further explains that certain GIs that are now protected under the EU registration regime have long been used in the South African trade environment, to the effect of having become generic. It is against this background that the author argues that in light of the strong negotiating position of the EU, the Europeans, when negotiating the free trade agreement with South Africa,... |
