Trading in Knowledge

REGIONAL INITIATIVES

Chapter 23

Implementing the TRIPSAgreement in Africa

Francis Mangeni

INTRODUCTION

The first standard point that should be made on preparing and adopting laws, especially laws in quite involved areas like TRIPS, is this: use precedents, though not quite in the same sense as the nine year old the teacher caught copying from the next pupil, who leapt to his defence saying, ‘I am only looking for a precedent!’. But in three senses; first, that developing countries need to adopt coherent and convincing state practice to pit against any efforts to put adverse meanings to certain provisions of the TRIPS Agreement, especially meanings that reflect only the practice, experience and interests of developed countries based on their ...