Estados Unidos de América

Sudáfrica

Observancia de los derechos de propiedad intelectual

1. Articles 41.1 and 42 of the TRIPS Agreement require that procedures be available for the effective enforcement of the intellectual property rights covered by the Agreement. Please describe the structure of the judicial and administrative procedures in South Africa in which parties can enforce their intellectual property rights, at local, provincial and national levels, indicating the jurisdiction of each type of court or administrative body and explaining the interrelationships, if any, of the various types of courts and administrative bodies. Cite the laws or other authorities establishing the structure, including each type of court and administrative body.

Intellectual property rights can be enforced in South Africa by way of infringement proceedings in a court of law having jurisdiction. The relevant courts having jurisdiction in intellectual property infringement cases are: (a) The various provincial and local divisions of the High Court of South Africa have jurisdiction in cases of trademark, copyright and design infringement. Proceedings in the High Courts are regulated by the Supreme Court Act No. 59 of 1959 and the Rules of the Supreme Court. (b) The Court of the Commissioner of Patents has jurisdiction in cases of patent infringement (Section 8 of Patents Act No. 57 of 1978, Regulations 76-100 of the Patent Regulations). (c) The local and regional Magistrates' Courts of South Africa have jurisdiction in cases of copyright infringement where the quantum of the claim is below R 100,000. However, these "lower" courts are seldom, if ever, used in civil intellectual property cases. The proceedings in the Magistrates' Courts are regulated by the Magistrates' Courts Act No. 32 of 1944. (d) There are no administrative bodies having jurisdiction to enforce intellectual property rights in South Africa.