08 Dec 2016

There must be a right balance between competition and protection of intellectual property rights (IPR), director for legal and enforcement at Competition Authority (CA), Mr Duncan Morotsi has said.

Mr Morotsi said IPR and CA were complimentary because they shared a concern to promote technical progress to the ultimate benefit of consumers.

Speaking at the World Competition Day (WCD) celebrations, Mr Morotsi said firms were more likely to innovate if accorded protection.

Officially launching the Competition Authority’s 2015/16 annual report at the event, deputy chairperson of the Competition Commission, Ms Thembisile Phuthego said CA recorded some successes during the 2015/2016 financial year.

She said they covered, among others, investigations, research, mergers and acquisitions as well as awareness and stakeholder engagement and social responsibility initiatives.

The CA, Ms Phuthego said, took part in five major social responsibility initiatives that involved giving out donations such as toiletries, clothing, roofing materials, cash and labour contributions.

Ms Phuthego also outlined some challenges the CA faced  such as limited funding, inadequate staff complement due to limited budget and late submission of data by external parties.

Competition Authority acting chief executive officer, Ms Tebeelelo Pule said December 5 was earmarked for Competition and Intellectual Property Rights annually. ENDS