Moral Rights: To Waive or not to Waive The Right of an Employer

Madelein Kleyn, Group Manager, Legal and Intellectual Property, Oro Agri International Ltd, USA

The Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS), which came into effect on 1 January 1995, is an international legal agreement between the member nations of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and stipulates the minimum standards for the regulation by national governments of various forms of intellectual property (IP). TRIPS covers the areas of copyright and related rights (i.e. the rights of performers, producers of sound recordings and broadcasting organizations); trademarks, including service marks; geographical indications, including appellations of origin; industrial designs; patents, including the protection of new varieties of plants; the layout-designs of integrated circuits; and undisclosed information, including trade secrets and test data.

Madelein Kleyn is a chemical engineer, an admitted attorney and a registered patent attorney in South Africa. She holds a PhD in intellectual property. She served as in-house corporate patent counsel for South African based international petrochemical company Sasol Group Services for 16 years and is presently the General Manager