Prosecution

The Nigerian International Franchise Association defines a franchise as “a business arrangement” where “the franchisor grants the franchise operator (the franchisee) the right to distribute certain products or services in a particular way, at a particular location, and for specified periods of time. In return, the franchisee pays the franchisor fees and royalties.”

One of the requirements in Angola for the registration of any IP right through a legal representative is a power of attorney on behalf of the applicant. In cases where the applicants are foreign persons or entities, this document is even mandatory, as they are required to be represented by a local attorney at law, according to article 67 of the Angolan Industrial Property Law (IP Law).

Additionally, for these applicants, it will be required that the power of attorney will be certified at an Angolan consulate or embassy.

The distinctive function and distinctive character

Trademarks serve to distinguish the goods or services of one company from those of other companies. This is the trademark’s most relevant function for the legal system. Only signs which have the capacity to distinguish, i.e., distinctive capacity, can fulfil that function. For this reason, the rules that regulate trademark law determine that a trademark that does not have distinctive capacity cannot be protected, namely through registration.

The west African nation of Benin has registered its first protected geographical indication at the African Intellectual Property Organisation on 28 October.  The honour goes to the sugarloaf pineapple from the Allada Plateau, which has juicy and sweet white flesh, and the distinction of remaining green when fully ripe.

A patent prosecution process carried by a patent office takes a significant time lasting usually from three to six years. The period from filing the patent application to patent granting depends on several factors, for example the work capacity of the patent office, meeting of the patentability criteria, number of necessary substantive examinations, and some time limits set forth by patent laws and regulations.

Since the ousting of former President Omar al-Bashir in 2019, Sudan has been ruled by an alliance between military and civilian groups. However, on 25 October 2021, the military took control. dissolving the transitional government and detaining Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok – although he returned to his residence the next day, according to a source within the Sudanese prime minister’s office and a military source.

In Africa, inventions can be protected by patents through a direct filing in the country of interest using the Paris Convention or through a sole filing in a regional office. With regard to the regional offices, the applicant can choose among the Organisation Africaine de la Propriété Intellectuelle (OAPI), the African Regional Intellectual Property Organization (ARIPO), or both, since the OAPI and ARIPO cover different African countries.

WIPO published the 14th Global Innovation Index (GII) in September. This year’s edition was dedicated to tracking innovation through the covid-19 crisis and explores several key indicators – including trademark-related information – to identify trends in innovation across 132 countries. One of the objectives of this is to assist policymakers to promote creativity and inventiveness.

Madagascar is an island country in East Africa, located in the Indian Ocean. As a result of the island’s long isolation from neighbouring continents, Madagascar is home to various plants and animals found nowhere else on Earth, being therefore considered as a biodiversity hotspot.

This is a new case of applying to register a sound mark which gained notoriety in the news media and, once again, was rejected owing to the absence of a distinctive character – sound marks are eligible for registration, though not all.

Albeit under different arguments, the General Court of the European Union confirmed the decision by the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO), which rejected the application by the company Ardagh Metal Beverage Holdings GmbH & Co. KG.