Prosecution

Within the scope of INTA’s 2022 Annual Meeting, Vera Albino was invited by WIPR - World IP Review to share some comments in the editorial article "Insulating Indigenous Innovation", in the last issue of the INTA Daily News.

How indigenous innovation is being supported, what are the main issues faced by these communities, and the role of Intellectual Property in supporting innovation in developing countries, especially among indigenous communities, are some of the topics that can be read.

In March 1977 the Bangui Agreement (hereinafter, also referred to as “Agreement”) created OAPI, the Organisation Africaine de la Propriété Intellectuelle (African Organization of Intellectual Property). OAPI is an organization mainly composed of francophone jurisdictions, namely: Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Chad, the Comoro Islands, Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Senegal, and Togo.

In Intellectual Property systems there are many deadlines that applicants and owners have to comply with. So, missing a deadline is a mistake that should always be taken into account. However, there are exceptional occasions that cannot be foreseen from experience and are therefore unpredictable and involuntary.

World Intellectual Property Day is celebrated on April 26 and, this year, with the theme chosen by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO): “IP and Youth: innovating for a better future”. The relationship between youth and IP has at least two directions. In one direction, youth innovate and get protection through IP. In another, youth are the main addressees of IP-protected innovations. It is mainly in this direction of the relationship that the sub-theme of trademarks in the metaverse is situated.

What is the metaverse?

Inventa contributed again with the Portugal chapter in the latest edition of International Comparative Legal Guides - Trade Marks 2022, published by Global Legal Group.

These guidelines summarize legislation and regulations regarding trademarks in Portugal focusing on many aspects as the main steps, timings, requirements and other related rights applied to this jurisdiction.

For the first time, on 4 February, 2021, the High Court of Tanzania (Commercial Division) has issued a decision concerning the protection of well-known trademarks, against infringing company names registered by third parties in the country in a case involving JC Decaux SA and JC Decaux Tanzania Limited (plaintiff) and a local company, JP Decaux Tanzania Limited (defendant).

Following the approved accession of Cape Verde to the Lusaka Agreement (ARIPO), the country now joins four key WIPO treaties: Madrid Protocol, Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT), Geneva Act of the Lisbon Agreement and Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property.

In December 2012, the European countries and the European Parliament agreed on a legislative initiative that laid the ground for the creation of the unitary patent protection in the European Union (EU). Now, the implementation of a much simpler and less expensive European patent system is highly expected for the second half of 2022.

Cape Verde is an island state formed by ten islands of volcanic origin, located in the tropical north-western Atlantic Ocean, on the African continent, 500km off the coast of Senegal. With landscapes varying from dry plains to high active volcanoes with cliffs rising steeply from the ocean, islands in the east are arid and only sparsely settled to exploit their extensive salt deposits, while the more southerly ones receive more precipitation and support larger populations, but agriculture and livestock grazing have impacted the soil fertility and vegetation.

The great success of Ralph Lauren trademark began in 1967, when its founder decided to open a tie company and follow his American dream. Shortly after, man clothes were conceived, and four years later, the first mixed shop appears.

The “Polo” trademark, oriented for a man segment, has won a costly victory in the South Africa’s Supreme Court of Appeal and will continue to benefit from the protection of its trademarks registered more than 45 years ago in this territory.