Tag Archives: Intellectual property law

14Mar/26

Protecting Brands in Zambia: Powerful Customs Measures and New Arbitration Avenues

March 14, 2026LegalAfrican Regional Intellectual Property Organization, Aripo, Benson Mpalo, Innovation, Intangible assets, Intellectual property, Intellectual property law, Intellectual property organization, Madrid, Nelson Banda, Patent, Product management, Sichibende, Southern Africa, Southern African Development Community, the southern african development community, Traditional knowledge, Zambiaadmin

March 12, 2026 /Mpelembe Media/ — The African Regional Intellectual Property Organization (ARIPO) serves as a collaborative hub for 22 member nations to streamline the protection of patents, trademarks, and industrial designs through centralized protocols like the Harare Agreement. While ARIPO facilitates cross-border registration via digital tools and online gazettes, nations such as Zambia maintain their own robust legal frameworks, including the Industrial Property Act of 2017. Managed by PACRA, Zambia’s domestic system is currently transitioning to mandatory online trademark filings to improve administrative efficiency and align with international standards. Despite these modernizing efforts, experts argue for deeper regional integration within the Southern African Development Community (SADC) to better address public health and traditional knowledge. Current assessments, such as the Global Innovation Index, show that while Zambia shows strength in infrastructure, it still faces challenges in translating investments into high-level innovation outputs. Regional cooperation remains a vital strategy for these developing economies to pool limited resources and foster a predictable environment for global investors. Continue reading →

18Nov/25

Global Progress on Tobacco Plain Packaging and Warnings

November 18, 2025HealthcareAustralia, Canada, canadian cancer society, Cigarette, Cigarette packets in Australia, In France, In Norway, Intellectual property law, Plain tobacco packaging, Tobacco control, Tobacco packaging warning messages, Trademark lawadmin

The Canadian Cancer Society (CCS) released a statement on November 18, 2025, concerning the global advancements in tobacco control measures. Specifically, the report details increasing international adoption of plain packaging for cigarettes and the required use of large, graphic picture health warnings. The CCS report, Cigarette Package Health Warnings: International Status Report, ranks countries based on warning size and notes that more countries are moving forward with these public health measures, including innovative requirements for warnings to be printed directly on individual cigarettes in countries like Canada and Australia. The core focus is the worldwide progress in mandated cigarette packaging regulations. Continue reading

28Apr/23

What is the EU proposal regulation on generative AI?

April 28, 2023DevelopersAcademic disciplines, Articles, Artificial intelligence, Computational neuroscience, Copyright, Cybernetics, Intellectual property law, Technologyadmin

The European Commission proposed a regulation on Artificial Intelligence (AI), also known as the AI Act. The AI Act is the first-ever legal framework on AI by a major regulator anywhere. The AI Act aims to ensure that AI systems placed on the market in the European Union are trustworthy and do not pose unacceptable risks to people, fundamental rights, or the environment. Continue reading →

18Apr/23

ChatGPT: what the law says about who owns the copyright of AI-generated content

April 18, 2023LegalArticles, Artificial intelligence, Copyright, Copyright law, Creative Commons, Intellectual property law, Joe Sekhon, Law, Liu, Microsoft, Monopoly, Oleksandra Ozcan, Public domain, Public records, Sercan Ozcan, SHUTTERSTOCK, United Kingdom, United Kingdom copyright lawadmin

Sercan Ozcan, University of Portsmouth; Joe Sekhon, University of Portsmouth, and Oleksandra Ozcan, University of Portsmouth

The AI chatbot ChatGPT produces content that can appear to have been created by a human. There are many proposed uses for the technology, but its impressive capabilities raise important questions about ownership of the content.

UK legislation has a definition for computer-generated works. Under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 they are “generated by computer in circumstances such that there is no human author of the work”. The law suggests content generated by an artificial intelligence (AI) can be protected by copyright. However, the original sources of answers generated by AI chatbots can be difficult to trace – and they might include copyrighted works.

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