Intellectual Property Protection in Africa Status of Laws, Research and Policy Analysis in Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa and Uganda

Intellectual property rights (IPRs) are property rights in something intangible and protect innovations and reward innovative activity. IPRs are concerned with the expression of an idea for an invention, the details of which have been worked out and which takes the form of a product or process that can be applied industrially. This monograph provides a synthesis of five country reports with the aim of identifying and exploring issues affecting the administration and enforcement of IP in these countries. It also incorporates the views and opinions of the participants to the regional workshop held in Nairobi, Kenya in August 2004. It has five chapters. The first chapter comprises the introduction, background to the study, synopsis of the problem, justification, methodology and scope and limitations of the study. The second chapter conceptualizes IP, putting the study within context. Chapter three provides a synthesis of the findings of the study drawn from the country reports of the case study countries. The fourth chapter concludes the IPR needs, recommendations and the conclusion.