AFRIPI

In support of the production of inventions and institutional innovations for the benefit of enterprises, and to develop innovation platforms in the OAPI member states, three seminars were organised in the 17 OAPI member countries. The objectives were to boost the implementation of collaborative work platforms between universities / research centres and enterprises, to analyse the ecosystem of innovation platforms in OAPI member countries and to propose the establishment of more innovation platforms in the OAPI region.

Following the election of Ghana, Kenya, Liberia, Malawi, Mozambique and Zambia to form the ad hoc sub-working group on geographical indications (GIs) on 22 March 2022, the first meeting of this sub-group took place online on 16 June 2022.

In 2022, AfrIPI carried out a twofold action to help set-up and develop Collective Management Organisations (CMOs) for literary and artistic works in Member States of the African Regional Intellectual Property Organization (ARIPO).

This activity had the primary objective to provide legal and technical assistance to the set-up and development of CMOs for literary and artistic works in ARIPO Member States.

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The Banjul Protocol provides a centralised trade mark registration procedure. Applications for trade mark registrations may be submitted either to the African Regional Intellectual Property Organization (ARIPO) or the Intellectual Property office of a Member State. Trade mark applications submitted to ARIPO are examined by ARIPO examiners and are granted regionally. They are effective in the designated Member States and have the enforceability of national law.

As of 13 June 2022, the Patents and Companies Registration Agency of Zambia (PACRA) has made its trade mark data available to the TMview search tool.

With PACRA on board of TMview, the tool now contains data from 77 participating offices.

With the addition of more than 60.000 trade marks from PACRA, TMview now provides information and access to more than 106,5 million trade marks in total.

The second edition of the Africa-GI training took place in Yaounde, Cameroon, from May 9 to May 19, 2022.

The program, which brought together European, OAPI and AfrIPI professionals, benefited local animators and authorities from the OAPI region. Among the countries represented were Benin, Cameroon, Chad, Comoros, Ivory Coast, Mali, Mauritania, Niger and Togo.

Under the theme ‘Nigeria and the New Economy’, the eighth edition of the EU-Nigeria Business Forum (EUNBF) will take place from 30 June to 1 July 2022 at Eko Hotel & Suites, Lagos (Nigeria).

The EUNBF is a platform for the European Union (EU) and Nigerian businesses to increase domestic investments, enhance access to the EU market, and build strategic partnerships.

The Global Perspectives on Geographical Indications – An international conference for researchers, policymakers and practitioners will take place from 5 to 8 July 2022 at Montpellier (France).

From 18 to 20 May 2022, AfrIPI organised a regional workshop on the role of intellectual property (IP) in market integration in Central Africa, and on the strategic relevance of the IP protocol of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA).

AfrIPI created a pan-African case-law database on intellectual property rights (IPRs) in the first Annual Work Plan (AWP) in 2021. This year, the second AWP will focus on maintaining the tool and continuously uploading new case-law for different IPRs.

In order to do so, AfrIPI will set up a network of judges. A judges’ colloquium was set up in the first AWP for French-speaking countries. In the second AWP, we will address English-speaking countries.