From 22 to 24 November 2021, Sakpatenti staff visited the EUIPO’s premises in Alicante on a study trip. This visit allowed Sakpatenti representatives to meet with selected departments to familiarise themselves with the EUIPO’s procedures as a high performing IP office.
On 21 October, the ‘Africa IP SME Helpdesk’ will be launched in Rome, under the auspices of the EU-African SME Summit 2021. From this date, EU businesses will be able to find detailed and practical information on African intellectual property matters at the Helpdesk’s online hub, and address specific questions to the Helpdesk.
Caribbean GIs and speciality products have the potential to achieve a greater presence in international markets, particularly in the EU where consumers are willing to pay higher prices for origin-linked products (OLPs). To take full advantage of these opportunities, eligible producers of OLPs, must be able to register their products as GIs at the national level first, to enable them to seek protection in other international markets.
The CARIFORUM Intellectual Property Rights and Innovation (CarIPI) has just launched a course on origin-linked products (OLPs) and geographical indications (GIs).
In support of the National Intellectual Property Center of Georgia (Sakpatenti), on 2 July 2021 the EU-Georgia Intellectual Property Project (EUGIPP) held a workshop on alternative dispute resolution.
In September 2021, ARISE+ IPR set out to draft the booklet ‘The Madrid Protocol: a route to global branding’ for Malaysia, to prepare the booklet ‘The Hague System: bringing Vietnamese design to the world’ for Vietnam, and to update the existing booklets with country-specific information.
On 27 to 29 September 2021, the Africa Intellectual Property Rights and Innovation Project, AfrIPI, (an EU funded IP development action implemented by the European Union Intellectual Property Office - EUIPO), in partnership with the Organisation Africaine de la Propriété Intellectuelle (OAPI), convened a regional workshop of OAPI member countries, in Yaounde, Cameroon, where they shared best practices and explored new synergies in the fight against the proliferation of sub-standard and fake medicines in Africa.
On 18 October, the AfrIPI project will be presented at the EUIPO 17th Liaison Meeting on Cooperation. Main topics will include the launch of the first Africa IP SME helpdesk. Also, Peter Labody (Hungary IP Office) will make a short presentation on the contribution to AfrIPI. AfrIPI project leaders will present the second Annual Work Plan (AWP) that runs from January to December 2022. This second AWP proposal will be brought to the AfriPI Project Steering Committee for approval in November 2021.
The AFRIPI project in partnership with the African Intellectual Property Organisation (OAPI) is organising a regional seminar on the enforcement of intellectual property rights from 20 to 21 October 2021 in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire. This seminar will be organised for magistrates and court clerks of OAPI member countries and aims to train, inform and sensitise the target audience on the legal instruments in force for a better enforcement of intellectual property rights and to share experiences on related litigation.