Prosecution

On September 2021, the African Regional Intellectual Property Organization (ARIPO), with the support of the European Patent Office (EPO), launched the ARIPO Regional Patent Examination Training (ARPET) programme.

The programme is predicted to run for 18 months and aims to improve its participants’ capability when conducting high-quality searches, as well as examining local patent applications, incorporating the EPO’s best practices.

ARIPO’s examining activity

Cape Verde, an island state formed by an archipelago of 10 islands, benefits from its geographic position and has an economy based on the services sector, including trade, transport, tourism, public services, and exports of fish and clothing.

Introduction

ARIPO is a regional intellectual property organization that is regulated by several protocols. With regard to patent applications, it is regulated by the Harare protocol whose member states are: Botswana, Kingdom of Eswatini, The Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Kingdom of Lesotho, Liberia, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

Filing requests for protection

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.