Protection down the road: Car shapes and intellectual property law

by | Feb 13, 2026 | SALJ, SALJ V143 I1 2026

ARTICLE

Protection down the road: Car shapes and intellectual property law

Authors: Gretchen Jansen & Dennis Wurm

ISSN: 1996-2177
Affiliations: Lecturer, Department of Mercantile Law, Stellenbosch University; Research assistant and PhD student in Public Law and International Economic Law, Universität Siegen, Germany
Source: South African Law Journal, Volume 143 Issue 1, p. 184-214
https://doi.org/10.47348/SALJ/v143/i1a9

Abstract

The automotive industry is of growing importance in South Africa. To maintain the country’s appeal as an international business hub for foreign automakers, the law should provide sufficient protection for automakers with regard to the shape of their vehicles. This article considers the extent to which South African intellectual property law provides protection for the shape of a motor vehicle. The law is examined comparatively, with the approaches in the European Union and the United Kingdom investigated to determine whether South African intellectual property law meets international standards in this context. It is argued that the law of registered designs remains the primary method of protection for car shapes, but that trade mark law and copyright law can be developed to offer supplementary avenues to enhance protection in this area.

Continuity and change in global labour law

by | Jan 31, 2026 | ACTA, ACTA 2025

Continuity and change in global labour law

Author Simon Deakin

ISSN: 1996-2088
Affiliations: MA PhD (Cantab) PhD(hc) (Louvain-la-Neuve); Professor of Law, University of Cambridge
Source: Acta Juridica, 2025, p. 1-25
https://doi.org/10.47348/ACTA/2025/a1

Abstract

This article undertakes an analysis of the prospects for global labour law from the perspective of long-run capitalist dynamics associated with phases of industrialisation. The article argues that Britain’s early industrialisation owed much to legal institutions, including the poor law and factory legislation, which supported labour mobility and improvements in productivity. Labour standards constructed around this model achieved a global reach by the middle decades of the twentieth century. Although weakened during the period of neoliberal policy dominance which began in Europe and North America in the 1980s, these institutions have proved surprisingly resilient, and have been strengthened in certain regions. If neoliberalism is ending, and it is not yet clear what will replace it, it is possible to predict that labour law will continue to have a future in mediating the impacts of markets and technology on humans and nature.

Has the Labour Relations Act exceeded its shelf life?

by | Jan 31, 2026 | ACTA, ACTA 2025

Has the Labour Relations Act exceeded its shelf life?

Author André van Niekerk

ISSN: 1996-2088
Affiliations: BA LLB MA (Witwatersrand) LLM (Leicester); Judge of the Labour Appeal Court
Source: Acta Juridica, 2025, p. 26-48
https://doi.org/10.47348/ACTA/2025/a2

Abstract

Any retrospective assessment of the Labour Relations Act (LRA) must necessarily determine whether the Act has succeeded in meeting its stated objectives, which are the advancement of economic development, social justice, labour peace and the democratisation of the workplace. This article traces the history of the LRA, the draft Bill that formed the basis of its negotiation, and the consensus that emerged from that tripartite process. The article concludes that the LRA has failed to meet its stated objectives, largely on account of its users’ rejection of those parts of the Act that sought to supplement the prevailing adversarial nature of industrial relations with a consensus-seeking, consultative ‘second channel’. The rejection of those provisions invites a consideration of different means to achieve the LRA’s stated objectives. A reconsideration of the LRA is also warranted by assumptions made when the LRA was drafted 30 years ago that are no longer valid. In particular, the corporatist assumptions that inform the model of collective bargaining no longer pertain, nor does the conception of work, tied as it is to the common-law contract of employment. Fragmented trade union federations and employers’ organisations, persistent adversarialism, the emergence of new forms of work and a dispute resolution system under stress all call for a re-evaluation of key elements of the LRA. The LRA failed to meet the challenges of democratic South Africa’s entry into a competitive global economy, even though it was designed to do so. The question is whether the Act remains fit for purpose to meet the current challenges of a fragile domestic economy in an increasingly polarised world.

Whither employment (and labour law)?

by | Jan 31, 2026 | ACTA, ACTA 2025

Whither employment (and labour law)?

Authors Abigail Osiki & Nicola Smit

ISSN: 1996-2088
Affiliations: LLB (Ibadan) LLM PhD (Cape Town). Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Law, University of Canterbury; Research Fellow, Department of Mercantile and Labour Law, University of the Western Cape; BLC LLB (Pretoria) LLD (Johannesburg). Professor of Law and Dean, Faculty of Law, Stellenbosch University
Source: Acta Juridica, 2025, p. 49-88
https://doi.org/10.47348/ACTA/2025/a3

Abstract

The legal and economic world for which labour law was traditionally designed has largely disappeared in the twenty-first century. Although the goals and purposes of labour law have not changed, it is in danger of becoming obsolete for most working people as employment, work and workplaces have undergone fundamental shifts. This contribution considers the changes that have occurred in the world of work and their impact on labour law and regulation by asking what status employment or work should carry in the future to improve the dignity, rights and autonomy of those who need them most. In considering the past and present iterations of employment (and labour law), while considering future adaptation, the following aspects are considered: the changing nature and scope of employment, collective rights and related concepts, the implications of such changes, emerging collaboration between different fields of law and policy, and recommendations for regulation to ensure the continued influence of labour law and its associated legal constructs (such as ‘work’).