Geographical indications (GIs) have become one of the important key drivers for social and economic development in many countries. ARIPO has created a draft legal framework. Nevertheless, it is important for policymakers to further reinforce commitment by outlining the value GIs can have for economic development in Africa. This activity will provide ARIPO policymakers with an opportunity to share knowledge, best practices and expertise, with their counterparts from other countries. It will contribute to identifying effective and implementable policies on GIs.

As the AfrIPI project is designed to facilitate the ongoing negotiations (in particular Phase II, dealing with intellectual property rights) and later implementation of the AfCFTA, the project will provide technical assistance to the African Union and its member states in this regard. This includes provision of hands-on technical support and training for the application in practice of the commitments set out in the future AfCFTA chapter on intellectual property rights (IPR).

In order to increase visibility, this launch event will formally announce the start of the IPR Protection for Africa (AfrIPI) Project.

The purpose of this webinar is to prepare school activities in view of the World IP Day (26 April 2020). A trainer will coordinate a brainstorming session with teachers and advise on how to carry out such activities successfully. The event will be held online via Microsoft Teams and participants will be divided in two groups, for a total of around 17 participants.

In collaboration with CPVO and UPOV, on 23 April CarIPI hosted a webinar on New Plant Varieties Protection and UPOV Membership in the Caribbean: Experience Sharing. The objective was to increase awareness of the importance of plant breeding activities in the region, and the need for efficient systems for granting registration of PVRs.

22 April 2021 is the date chosen for a workshop on geographical indications (GIs) in Nigeria. The main thrust of the workshop will be to discuss how best to prepare the public sector in promoting GIs in Nigeria (capacity building). This is being organised by the following partners: IP First Group, Africa International Trade and Commerce Research (AITCR), and the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO). The event will be hybrid in nature (i.e. some participants will be available in person while others will participate online).

The Nigerian and Ethiopian intellectual property offices (IPOs) held an online workshop with the EUIPO Academy on 24 March 2021, to exchange best practices on how to set up their own IP Academies. This event was organised after both IPOs expressed interest in such an event during meetings with the AfrIPI Project Management Team. Representatives from both offices engaged with representatives from the EUIPO Academy on how best to adapt existing EUIPO e-learning materials to their specific needs.

The EU-Georgia Intellectual Property Project (EUGIPP) has been supporting the National Intellectual Property Center of Georgia (Sakpatenti) to develop examination guidelines for  national and international design applications. IP experts spent several months working in close collaboration with lawyers from the EUIPO and Sakpatenti to draft these guidelines. These have now been completed and translated into Georgian.

In April 2021, the ARISE+ IPR programme will launch the online training modules and organise a Q&A session for trade mark examiners from the ASEAN IP offices. The activity aims to promote the revised version of the ASEAN Common Guidelines on the Substantive Examination of Trade Marks and increase the ASEAN trade mark examination process’s efficiency.

On 7 and 8 April 2021, the ARISE+ IPR programme organised a two-day webinar on geographical indications (GI) management and promotion for existing and potential GI associations in all the ASEAN Member States (AMS). The speakers, namely GI experts from the EU and representatives from GI associations in the ASEAN and EU, shared their best practices and discuss different topics surrounding the roles of GI associations in the management and promotion of GIs (i.e.