Prosecution

The Democratic Republic of the Congo’s Industrial Property Law has been in force since 1982. Article 5 stipulates that there are three kinds of patent:

When it comes to patenting inventions in Africa, apart from direct filings in the country of interest using the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property, applicants can choose between two regional offices: the Organisation Africaine de la Propriété Intellectuelle (OAPI) and/or the African Regional Intellectual Property Organization (ARIPO).

Uganda’s trademark regulations have been amended, with 26 changes to provisions in the Trademark Regulations 9/2021. The most significant of these are the implementation of the registration of trademark agents and the introduction of an IP journal and fees for time extensions. The amendments were published in the Uganda Gazette on 5 February 2021 and are now in effect for trademark applications and requests filed on or after this date.

The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) came into effect on January 1, 2021 and is the largest trade area in the world by number of participating countries since the formation of the World Trade Organization (WTO).

The objectives outlined in article 3 of the treaty include the establishment of a common market for products and services, a regional customs authority, enhancing the competitiveness of member states’ economies both in Africa and globally, and promoting industrial development.

As a predominantly Muslim country, Egypt prohibits gambling in line with the Qu’ran. However, the practice is not entirely illegal and the country’s trademark legislation reflects this. The Law on the Protection of Intellectual Property Rights (82/2002) includes no interdiction on the registration of gambling and casino trademarks. However, Article 67(2) of the law prohibits the registration of trademarks that are considered contrary to public order or morality.

Trademarks have dominated Cape Verde’s IP field at the expense of other rights such as patents and industrial designs for many years. But this scenario could be about to change, says Diana Pereira of Inventa International.

As is the case in many countries, trademarks have taken the biggest IP share in Cape Verde ever since the creation of the region’s IP rights legislation. This has been to the detriment of other rights such as patents, utility models and industrial designs, which are all poorly represented in the jurisdiction.

The African Regional Intellectual Property Organisation (ARIPO) encompasses two major regional protocols: the Banjul Protocol for the protection of trademarks and the Harare Protocol for the protection of designs and patents.

Signatories to the Banjul Protocol are Botswana, Eswatini, Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Gambia in West Africa is home to the capital city in which the African Regional Intellectual Property Organisation’s (ARIPO) Administrative Council first adopted the Banjul Protocol in 1993. Under ARIPO’s regional system, applicants are required to designate the member states for which their trademark protection is intended. The associated costs of the procedure depend on the number of designated states in each application. 

A successful IP system is crucial to the growth of small and medium enterprises in Nigeria, however, there are some major challenges hindering its development.

Copyright refers to the rights that creators have over their literary and artistic works and protects the creators against third parties wishing to take ownership of their work to use it in a different way from the one they proposed originally without their authorisation. This protection, which is embodied in the exclusive right of economic exploitation of the holders of copyright and related rights in relation to their creations, allows the creators to be fairly rewarded for their work.