Mr Chimdessa Fekadu TSEGA

Research Student

Working toward a PhD in Laws, expected 2024

Mr. Tsega is a PhD candidate at CUHK LAW with particular interest in issues related to regional integration and intellectual property rights protection focusing on Africa. Before joining CUHK LAW, he has taught and researched in multiple institutions in Ethiopia, Switzerland, Hungary and Singapore. He recently completed a visiting researcher program at the Max Planck Institute for Innovation and Competition in Munich (Germany).
THESIS TOPIC
Towards a Harmonized Pan-African Patent Framework: Assessing the Desirability and Feasibility of Patent Harmonization for Africa, co-supervised by Professors Bryan MERCURIO and Sandra MARCO COLINO.
RESEARCH INTERESTS AND AIMS
  • Public International Law
  • International Trade Law
  • Intellectual Property
  • Regional Integration Law
  • Human Rights and Humanitarian Law

With my thesis I aim to examine the challenges of legal convergence in the area of intellectual property rights regulation with specific reference to patent rights within the African continental free trade area. Particularly my thesis explores how the continental intellectual property rights regulation framework in Africa should be uniquely designed taking into account the continent-specific characteristics of the region.

PUBLICATIONS
  • Pharmaceutical Patent Law and Policy in Africa: A Survey of Selected SADC Member States, Legal Studies (Cambridge), 1-20, 2023. (with Bryan Mercurio & Tolulope Anthony Adekola).
  • Patent Harmonization in Africa: What Potential Roles for AfCFTA Intellectual Property Protocol?, 44 European Intellectual Property Review 6, 2022.
  • The Responsibility of International Organizations for Wrongful Acts in Peacekeeping Operations: The Case for Dual Attribution, 59 Indian Journal of International Law 1-4, 2020.
  • The Nile River as a Potential Progenitor of War or Cooperation: The Case of Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, 4 International Journal of Humanities, Art and Social Studies (IJHAS) 4, 2019.
  • China-Africa Trade and Investment Relations: Development Partnership or New Colonialism?, 2 Economics, Commerce and Trade Management: An International Journal (ECTIJ) 1, 2019.
  • The Extra-territorial Non Applicability of Economic and Social Rights during Military Occupation of a Foreign Territory, 5 Journal of Legal Studies and Research 5, 2019.
  • Transcending Boundaries: Increasing Political Trust and Good Governance in Sub-Saharan Africa, Olam International Portfolio of Perspectives Series, Singapore, 2015.
  • Human Rights and Federal Intervention in Ethiopia: Analysis of the Ethiopian Federal Intervention Law, VDM Publishing, Germany, 2012.
    Papers Delivered
    • Regional Transposition of TRIPS Flexibilities: COMESA as a Case Study, African International Economic Law Network (AfIELN), 2023.
    • TWAIL as a Pedagogy: Opportunities and Blind Spots, CUHK LAW Directions in Legal Education Conference, June 2022.
    • Patent Harmonization and AfCFTA IP Protocol: Potential Contributions, Fourth IP & Innovation Researchers of Asia Conference, February 2022.
    • The Protection of Intellectual property Rights and Its Impact on Intra-regional Trade in Africa, Panafrican University Institute of Governance, Humanities and Social Sciences, Yaounde, Cameroon, January 2020.
    • Autonomous Weapons Systems under International Humanitarian Law: Complete Ban v. Regulation, Proceedings of the 14th ICRC Faculty Roundtable on International Humanitarian Law for East African Universities, Addis Ababa, August 2018.
    • Ethiopian Federation and the Representation of Minority Rights, Global Minority Rights Summer School, Budapest, Hungary, July 2014.
      EDUCATION AND AWARDS
      Education
      • Master’s Degree in Public Policy (MPP), National University of Singapore, Singapore.
      • Master’s Degree in Laws (LLM), Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights, Switzerland.
      • Bachelor of Laws (LLB), Jimma University, Ethiopia.

      Awards

      • Max Planck Scholarship for Visiting Researchers.
      • Hong Kong PhD Fellowship (HKPFS).
      • Olam International Scholarship.
      • Hungarian Government Good Governance Scholarship.
      • ROLEX Hans Wilsdorf Scholarship.
      • Jimma University Faculty Gold Medal.