Prof Caroline Ncube is the DST/NRF SARChI Research Chair in Intellectual Property, Innovation and Development at the Department of Commercial Law at the University of Cape Town (UCT). She is also Affiliated with the Intellectual Property Unit.
Prof Ncube served as Head of the Department of Commercial Law from 2014 – 2016 and as Deputy Dean, Postgraduate Studies in 2017. She is currently a Member of the African Policy, Research & Advisory Group on STI. Prof Ncube works primarily in the area of IP law and has a special interest in how IP law and policy can be best calibrated to achieve national socio-economic goals in African states. These considerations center on the promotion of innovation in prevalent African contexts, such as the informal sector.
Her Publications to date have considered copyright and patent laws specifically in the light of access imperatives grounded in the constitutional protection of fundamental and socio-economic rights. For instance, she has recently worked on how copyright impacts publication in neglected languages for under-served markets and access to works by persons with cognitive, aural, physical and other disabilities.
Prof Ncube's other key focus area is the protection of indigenous knowledge, on which she has Authored book chapters and Co-Edited a volume, Indigenous Knowledge & Intellectual Property. African regional integration efforts are also a critical element of her study of how IP law and policy are developing in Africa. This has been the subject of Intellectual Property Policy, Law and Administration in Africa: Exploring Continental and Sub-regional Co-operation which she recently Authored.
