Intellectual Property

Students who study law at the National University of Lesotho (NUL) participate in various moot court competitions involving a wide array of legal fields. One example is the John H. Jackson Moot Court Competition. NUL has taken part in this competition on four occasions- twice making it into the international final round. There are several challenges to teaching International Economic Law (IEL) at NUL (these have been traversed in an earlier piece). However, participation in moot court competitions has proved to be a novel way of overcoming some of these challenges.

The Mandela Institute is a leading university centre undertaking research, policy development, and capacity building at the intersection between economics and law. Its mandate is to advance the field of economic regulation.

Nigeria, similarly, must now contend with a whole range of issues discussed at the CLRNN. These issues demand attention in order to advance objectives of furthering social and economic development. Reducing legal uncertainty and unleashing the power of Nigerian enterprise to more efficiently tackle its’ own challenges is a matter of the highest concern; in this way Nigeria can genuinely become the economic powerhouse it seeks to be, for Africa, and the world.

Medium, small and micro enterprises (MSMEs) play a significant role in the building and sustenance of a nation's economy. Small and medium scale enterprises constitute about 80% of Nigerian businesses and therefore are very crucial to the Nigerian economy. However, MSMEs mostly depend on credit facilities to build and sustain their companies but have little of immovable assets to offer as security. Another challenge of MSMEs is poor management and governance, which also is a credit risk.

Emerging States are urged to be more proactive in treaty making and the language contained therein. In essence, the inclusion of provisions to prevent misuse/ abuse of IPRs and anti-competitive practices in FTAs should be encouraged added to in-depth scrutiny of relevant IP provisions frequently found in TAs and/or that have been identified as bearing particular importance to the generic and biosimilar industries.

It would be beneficial to take more interest in private international law, but even more useful to adopt a harmonised approach in dealing with international commercial law. There are several justifications for Nigeria to consider the high-octane aspects of international trade such as free trade. Nevertheless, a journey towards sustainable growth would be to operate a rather seamless philosophy that brings different strands of commercial law interests together in dealing with the world.

The interconnectedness of commercial and other mundane human transactions has never been more reified than it is since the advent of new Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs). However, it bears observing that ICTs have helped in harnessing virtually every human and non-human endeavour into their commercial ramifications

TWAIL scholarship share three central themes. First, it engages in historical analysis to disinter partial narratives of international law. Second, the historical analysis exposes avenues through which particular aspects of international law are unjust to everyday realities of Third World peoples. Third, some TWAIL scholarship attempt to reform or transform unjust international law to suit the needs and realities of Third World peoples.

There is no single ‘correct’ approach to legal scholarship. The beauty of international economic law research and study lies in the availability of diverse theories and methods of other non-legal disciplines that can be carefully deployed to effectively engage in debates arising in today’s complex social, political and economic environment.

We are pleased to announce that the 9th PEPA/SIEL conference will take place on 17-19 May 2020 at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem Faculty of Law, in Jerusalem.