Isaac Kundakogo Kunko

Journal Articles

Unfair Competition Law in Ghana: Unravelling the Scope, Evolving Jurisprudence, Challenges and Future Directions, Journal of Intellectual Property Law & Practice 19, 12 (2024), 853 - 859. DOI

• Despite its implications for businesses and consumer welfare, unfair competition law has received limited scholarly attention in Ghana. This article fills a significant research gap by examining Ghana’s legal framework for unfair competition, focusing on legislative measures and court decisions in an attempt to facilitate comprehensive academic inquiry into the subject.
  The article explores how Ghana addresses unfair competition in line with international standards, particularly Article 10bis of the Paris Convention and the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights Agreement. It assesses how Ghanaian courts have developed unfair competition protection jurisprudence over time with co-existing statutory and common law regimes. Additionally, it highlights the challenges in applying the law and areas for improving it.
  The study demonstrates how Ghana adopts various approaches to unfair competition, comprising a single source statutory reference point which coexists with the common law tort of passing off. The statutory approach, alone or with the other approaches, meets Ghana’s international obligations. However, there is a need for coherence and effectiveness in the interaction between statutory law and common law principles. Understanding this interaction is essential for ensuring Ghana’s consistent and effective application of unfair competition laws.

Intellectual Property and Insolvency in Ghana: A Case for Reform, Ghana Insolvency and Restructuring Journal 2, 1 (2024), 40 - 47.

The Search for Originality in the Copyright Regime of Ghana - An Analysis of the case of Pearson Education Ltd v. Adzei, University of Ghana Students Law Journal 5 (2013), 85.

Research Papers

The Regulation of the Distribution of Pharmaceuticals and Its Impact on Access to Medicines in Ghana (MIPLC Master Thesis Series, 2014/15), 2015, 78 pp.

• Access to pharmaceuticals as curative or therapeutic agents is a main determinant of the efficiency and quality of a health care system. The overall outcome of a medical intervention often depends largely on the success of the pharmaceutical regimen. Globally, efforts have been made to ensure the availability of drugs in developing countries through the TRIPs flexibilities. Beyond these interventions, the regulation of the distribution of the medicines within the beneficiary countries can negatively affect access of consumers to these drugs. Where a health insurance system exists, high drug prices are not a problem of the individual patient, but still a problem that entails huge social costs.
  The distribution of drugs has a great influence on access to drugs by the patient. Accessibility to essential medicines depends on availability, accessibility and acceptability of the essential medicines on the market and whether the patients who need these medicines can afford to purchase them. Access to drugs is affected by laws that regulate the various aspects of distribution, intellectual property related rights like patents and to some extent trade marks. Ghana regulates the distribution of drugs through different sector laws. These laws govern the importation, sale, advertising, prescribing and dispensing of drugs to patients. Ghana imports about 70 percent of its drug needs. Most of these imported drugs are generic drugs. The laws governing the distribution of drugs determine whether the drugs can easily be made available on the market and whether the quality, safety and efficacy will meet the required standard.
  The thesis will access both non-intellectual property and intellectual property laws and policies that relate to the distribution of drugs. It will argue that the laws and policy guidelines that govern the distribution of medicines in Ghana adversely affect the availability, accessibility and affordability of medicines.
• Available at SSRN