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On 18 July 2025, the Zanzibar IP Office announced the implementation of increased official fees, set to take effect from 11 August 2025.
The IP ecosystem is rapidly evolving, in keeping with a highly competitive and fast-growing global market (which, for purposes of this article, serves as a chessboard).
We have all witnessed how the rise of artificial intelligence (“AI”) has enabled the manipulation of images and videos to an unprecedented degree. In particular, people’s faces are often altered or replicated in such a realistic manner that many viewers struggle to determine whether the content is genuine or artificially generated.
Intellectual Property (IP) has evolved from a legal safeguard into a strategic asset that drives business valuation, revenue generation, and global expansion. For high-growth businesses, multinational corporations, and technology innovators, IP structuring and tax-efficient commercialization are no longer optional but a critical business imperative.
When Daniel Montague Kisch opened a small patent agency in Pretoria in 1874, the telephone had not yet rung its first call and Edison’s incandescent bulb was still on the drawing board. A century-and-a-half later, the firm that now trades as KISCH IP stands at the heart of Africa’s innovation economy, guiding clients through a landscape dominated by generative artificial intelligence (AI) and quantum computing.
In a landmark ruling, the South African Constitutional Court has taken a significant step toward inclusivity by granting blind and visually impaired individuals the right to access copyrighted works in accessible formats—without needing prior permission from copyright owners.
