Prosecution

Uganda is located at the heart of sub-Saharan Africa and is bordered by South Sudan, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Its location makes it a strategic base for trade and therefore very attractive for potential investors as an emerging market. However, companies interested in entering the Ugandan market should seek IP protection beforehand, as it is common for third-party distributors to take advantage of new businesses and register their trademarks in bad faith, resulting in the unlawful use of marks and the creation of counterfeit products.

Since 2019, Inventa International has contributed to updating several chapters related to African jurisdictions in the Manual of Industrial Property (also known as The Brown Book), published by Wolters Kluwer International Group.

The pandemic caused by COVID-19 (SARS-COV-2) is completing a year since the most comprehensive health measures to combat the virus began. Intensive efforts to develop new active ingredients, treatment methods and vaccines have been carried out by the scientific community and pharmaceutical companies.

The first vaccines

The Madrid Union is based on the Madrid Protocol 1989, which allows applicants to directly file trademarks in several countries with a single application and set of fees, through a centralised bureau that forwards them office actions. This cost-effective system can circumvent the need to directly file trademarks in national and regional offices, resulting in greater cost savings for applicants.

Regional reach

Whenever reference is made to a work of art named “The Thinker” in Angola, most people will think of the statuette “The Chokwe Thinker” (“O Pensador”).

The history of “O Pensador”, also known as “Samanhonga” or “Kuku”, goes back to 1932, when the Swiss painter and ethnologist Théodore Delachaux found the statuette in a “divination basket” (a basket containing many small objects used for the diviner to made prophecies at request of his clients) during an expedition to Angola. It is a wooden figurine, representing an elder, woman or man, in a position of deep meditation.

The receipt of an official notification requesting the payment of registration and certificate fees is one of the most eagerly awaited moments in the trademark registration process in Cape Verde. It means that an application has passed the Cape Verde Patent and Trademark Office’s (PTO) substantial examination phase and has fulfilled all the requirements for grant. As such, the applicant is just a step away from receiving a registration certificate. However, this is also a critical time for rights holders to rethink their strategy.

Between 7 and 15 of January, the Angolan Institute of Industrial Property (IAPI) will move to new facilities at Largo 17 de Setembro, palácio de Vidro, 4th floor, left wing - Marginal (Ministry of Industry and Commerce). During this period the IAPI is closed, intending to resume activity on the 18th of January in the new facilities.

The Intellectual Property Department of the Economy Services Directorate of Macau, SAR, announced through Administrative Regulation No. 45/2020, published in the Official Gazette of the Macau Special Administrative Region No. 52, Series I, of December 28, 2020, the change of its official name to Economic and Technological Development Bureau.

The Somalia Trademarks Office resumed operations at the end of 2019, when the Ministry of Commerce and Industry issued Ministerial Decree 1/2019, stipulating that trademark registrations are once again permitted. The decree is based on Somali Trademark Law 3 (1955), as amended by Law 33 (1975) and Law 3 (1987).

Only single-class applications are being accepted by the office. Further, a trademark is valid for 10 years from the filing date of the application and may be renewed indefinitely every 10 years.

Angola is a lusophone country on the west coast of Africa. Over the past two decades, it has piqued the interest of big brands and multinationals as a lucrative destination for investment. Many companies have preventively filed their trademarks there in order to market their products or services safely in the future. Further, it is common to find several applications for well-known trademarks on behalf of national companies or people in the national trademark bulletin – these tend to generate many oppositions.