Browsing by Author "Kinderlerer, Julian"

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    Addressing Legal Liability Issues in Cases of Harm due to Agricultural Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs): Does current liability law find a suitable balance between the injuring and injured party?
    (2010) Roschauer, Oliver; Kinderlerer, Julian; Milius, Djims
    In 1973, the first creation of recombinant bacteria, E. coli, allowed for gene engineering. After this development, it was possible to create a genetically modified organism (GMO) by adding a new gene into an organism's genome. A short time after this invention, the commercial value of these genetically modified products was discovered which resulted in the establishment of biotechnology companies. Nowadays, GMOs have a wide application in biological and medical research, production of pharmaceutical drugs, experimental medicine and agriculture.
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    The battle for policy space : strategic advantages of a human rights approach in international intellectual property negotiations
    (2008) Barratt, Amanda; Kinderlerer, Julian
    The patent system exists to encourage the development of new products from which society will benefit. The strength of protection awarded to patented products is a policy decision, allowing states to balance the monopoly rights of patent-owners against the inherent social costs of monopoly protection. The effective policy space within which states may establish domestic patent policy is increasingly circumscribed by international rules prescribing minimum protection levels regardless of local circumstances or consequences. In international negotiations, developing states have attempted to resist policy space curtailment using arguments that rely on foundational principles of the intellectual property system: its public purpose and its commitment to balancing costs and benefits. This negotiating stance has not been effective; its opponents counterargue that stronger patent protection achieves the same ends. This dissertation examines the resulting circular discussions at the 2001-2003 Doha negotiations and the WIPO Development Agenda talks since 2004. I argue that the impasse stems from an inability to move beyond the costs-benefits tension inherent in the patent system. Economists have been unable to resolve this tension by identifying optimal protection levels. Furthermore, intellectual property theory is unable to provide a bottom line at which the short-term social costs of patent monopolies must be deemed unacceptable, regardless of anticipated longerterm benefits. The developing states' negotiating stance will be strengthened if a bottom line can be identified. I argue that the International Covenant on Economic Social and Cultural Rights provides benchmarks to fulfil this function. ICESCR obligations are specific, objective, and measurable; they have international legitimacy; and they bind almost all states. I examine the Article 12 right to health to show that states violate the ICESCR if they ratify other treaties which reduce policy space and make it more difficult for states to adopt policies to meet their domestic or extraterritorial obligations. I also examine Article 15, concluding that it is insufficiently developed to offer firm guidelines. I use insights from international relations theory to examine the practical possibilities of adopting a human rights-based approach, and argue that the strategy will become progressively more effective as human rights norms are internalized through the negotiating process and by other means.
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    A crititcal analysis of the law regulating trade in genetically modified organisms from a South African perspective
    (2009) Hennessy, Candace Natasha; Kinderlerer, Julian; Milius, Djims
    With the dawn of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO's), humanity discovered the pathway to a future which before, only science-fiction movies had contemplated. GMO technology has made it possible to engineer plants, animals and other organisms to bear specific, desired characteristics, by manipulating the genetic structure of the organism in question, making it capable of unprecedented commercial use and humanitarian benefit in the form and manner desired by the genetic engineer. GMO's can possess properties which make them cheaper and easier to produce, or make them capable of specific functions ' from rendering consumer products more attractive, to alleviating hunger in desperately poor areas.
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    Green Paper for Post-School Education and Training in South Africa
    (2012-02) Gray, Eve; Kinderlerer, Julian
    This Green Paper, launched by the South African Minister of Higher Education and Training Dr Blade Nzimande in January 2012, identifies the key challenges facing South African higher education and sets out a path for overcoming these obstacles. Here SCAP Programme Director Eve Gray (with the input of Professor Julian Kinderlerer, Head of the Intellectual Property Law and Policy Unit at the University of Cape Town) highlights key issues contained in the paper as pertains to ICT, IPR, access to knowledge and open innovation.
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    Implementation of the precautionary approach in the regulation of genetically modified organisms: an African context
    (2011) Moitui, Charles Otuke; Kinderlerer, Julian
    This thesis critically examines the regulation of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in the selected countries of South Africa, Kenya, Zambia and Namibia. It investigates whether a jurisprudence may be developed through the implementation of the precautionary approach. This should be done in such a manner as to enhance the credibility of their biosafety legislation, but still promote biotechnology, with a view of possible replication across Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA).
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    Intellectual property protection for e-commerce business methods in South Africa : envisioning an equitable model for SMEs in the tourism industry
    (2011) Ncube, Caroline; Kinderlerer, Julian
    This thesis examines the intellectual property (IP) protection of the functional aspects of e-commerce business methods, which are embedded in the methods' underlying computer programs. It considers how South Africa can achieve an equitable balance between creators' interests in securing remuneration and attribution for, and users' interests in securing affordable access to, these methods. The thesis' primary perspective is that of users, and its arguments centre on the position of small and medium sized enterprises that provide accommodation in the tourism sector (accommodation SMEs).
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    The legal and political imperatives for proposed amendments of the South African Patents Act to implement TRIPS flexibilities and enhance the framework for access to medicines
    (2012) Kirk, Katie; Kinderlerer, Julian
    A multitude of factors affect the ability of South Africans to access the essential medicines, intellectual property (IP) is one of them. This dissertation considers some of opportunities open to South Africa through international IP flexibilities, which are aimed at safeguarding public health rights against the sometimes access-restricting effects of patent right monopolies. Potential pitfalls are also highlighted, noting strategies for South Africa to avoid the worst of them. The paper begins by giving an overview of the way in which patents affect access to medicines, and contending that the time for making the proposed amendments is now.
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    Medical biotechnology law in South Africa : a human rights analysis of selected topics
    (2012) Jordaan, Donrich W; Kinderlerer, Julian
    In this thesis I analyse the human rights dimensions of the South African law on four topical medical biotechnology subjects, namely human embryo research, the use of human gametes, autologous tem cell therapy, and private stem cell banking. In all four cases, my analyses give specific prominence to two research themes: first, human dignity as touchstone of the South African human rights regime, and secondly legal certainly. The analyses show that the legal rules governing three of the four selected medical biotechnology subjects are not aligned with the country's human rights regime.
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    The shifting nexus between law and biology : what does the future hold for gene patents?
    (2011) Stowell, Catherine Leigh; Kinderlerer, Julian; Milius, Djims
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    Trade in biotechnology : precaution and paralysis. A critical analysis of the law regulating trade in genetically modified organisms, from a South African perspective
    (2009) Hennessy, Candace Natasha; Kinderlerer, Julian; Milius, Djims
    With the dawn of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO's),1 humanity discovered the pathway to a future which before, only science-fiction movies had contemplated. GMO technology has made it possible to engineer plants, animals and other organisms to bear specific, desired characteristics, by manipulating the genetic structure of the organism in question, making it capable of unprecedented commercial use and humanitarian benefit in the form and manner desired by the genetic engineer. GMO's can possess properties which make them cheaper and easier to produce, or make them capable of specific functions – from rendering consumer products more attractive, to alleviating hunger in desperately poor areas.