Guest post: What can IP offer Africa – and what can Africa offer IP?

A handsome book recently arrived on my crowded desk, demanding attention: it’s Innovation & Intellectual Property: Collaborative Dynamics in Africa, edited by scholars Jeremy de Beer, Chris Armstrong, Chidi Oguamanam and Tobia Schonwetter. Published by the UCT Press in association with the IP Unit of the Faculty of Law, University of Cape Town (that’s what ‘UCT’ stands for) and the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), it’s one of those lovely books that you don’t have to buy since you can read it online or download it in its entirety  all 431 pages of it  by accessing its website here.

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News in brief – March 2015

JP MORGAN TURNS TO GOLDMAN SACHS FOR NEW EMEA GC

JP Morgan Chase hired heavyweight counsel, and former lawyer at Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton, John Tribolati from Goldman Sachs to succeed Piers Le Marchant as EMEA general counsel. Le Marchant is remaining with the banking giant as global head of compliance for corporate and investment banking.

 

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Global ambitions: Dentons opens in Jo’burg as accounts show profit jump

Dentons has continued its rapid expansion with the addition of a new South African office in Johannesburg, while accounts filed at Companies House by Dentons UKMEA LLP have revealed the firm saw a substantial rise in profits as it lowered operating costs and improved turnover.

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Revolving doors: OC and Boodle Hatfield both hire in the City while BLP and Pinsents focus on the Middle East

Osborne Clarke started last week with a hire from King & Wood Mallesons in the City but other laterals saw a focus on the Middle East with Boodle Hatfield’s London hire dealing with clients in the region as well as central Asia while Pinsent Masons and Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP) both hired in the UAE.

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Taking on the world

 MARKET VIEW – LITIGATION 

Al Tamimi & Company’s Hassan Arab, Rita Jaballah and Robert Maxwell Marsh examine the growing role of the UAE as a dispute resolution hub and the benefits of conducting dispute resolution in the increasingly comprehensive legal system

With the recent US Open and New York Fashion Week, New York City has once again attracted the eyes of the world and cemented its place as one of the ‘big four’ of tennis and fashion, respectively. But is there a ‘big four’ for global commercial law dispute resolution? The United Arab Emirates (UAE), in its concerted efforts over the past ten years to respond to the needs of the business community and match the highest international legal standards, is well on the way to placing Dubai, alongside New York, London and Singapore, as one of the international ‘big four’ of corporate dispute resolution. Continue reading “Taking on the world”

News in brief – September 2014

Squire Patton Boggs loses 23-strong team in Middle East

Squire Patton Boggs saw the departure of five partners and 18 supporting lawyers from its Middle East offices after tensions arose as the recently merged firm integrated its regional affiliates. The exits came as legacy Patton Boggs’ Khalid Al-Thebity was appointed managing partner of the Riyadh office.

Clydes settles whistleblower case

Clyde & Co has settled its dispute with former partner Krista Bates van Winkelhof out of court after she alleged she was forced to leave after blowing the whistle on the managing partner of its Tanzanian associate firm and announcing her pregnancy. The case involved a landmark Supreme Court decision which held that members of an LLP could be considered workers. Continue reading “News in brief – September 2014”

Dentons sues Republic of Guinea in District Court of Columbia for $10.2m in unpaid fees

Dentons is suing the Republic of Guinea and its Ministry of Mines and Geology for $10.2m over alleged unpaid legal fees, as well as costs that the country has ‘repeatedly acknowledged they owe’ the firm. US firm Williams & Connolly is representing Dentons in the dispute.

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