Prosecution

The Africa Regional Intellectual Property Office (ARIPO) has announced the appointment of new director general Bemanya Twebaze. The announcement was made during the 44th and last administrative council session, which was held in Zimbabwe between 16 and 20 November.

Twebaze was previously the CEO of the Uganda Registration Services Bureau. He is due to take office on 1 January 2021 for a four-year term and replaces Fernando dos Santos, who served ARIPO for eight consecutive years.

Trademark infringement in Africa is one of the reasons why various stakeholders avoid seeking protection there, as it is believed that the trademark registration systems of certain countries are not as effective as those of more developed countries. This is one of many misconceptions about intellectual property in Africa. Some countries on the continent – whose legislation does not provide for a formal recordal of trademarks before a customs authority – offer the possibility of requesting an informal registration.

Egypt

The current European Union (EU) Regulation (Regulation (EU) 2017/1001 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 June 2017 on the European Union trade mark) on EU trademarks entered into force on the 1st of October, 2017. One of the major modifications introduced by that Regulation was the elimination of the graphical representation requirement of trademarks. This requirement was held responsible for being an obstacle to the registration of non-traditional trademarks.

Trademark application numbers can reveal a great deal about a country. This article takes a closer look at the trademark databases of the African Intellectual Property Organisation (OAPI), Angola, Cape Verde, Mozambique and South Africa to reveal how the alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages sector varies among African jurisdictions. But before presenting the data, it is important to note that most databases are not public and because of this, the following information may contain some inaccurate statistics.

It is also worth noting that there are two classes for beverages:

The 2020 Global Innovation Index (GII) was released in September. The study was authored by WIPO, Cornell University and INSEAD and focused on innovation financing, against the backdrop of the economic impact of the covid-19 pandemic. This article focuses on how African countries performed, using trademark-related information as an indicator.

Africa at a glance

Chinese companies began investing in Africa in the last century, mainly via direct investment. In 2013 President Xi Jinping proposed China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in order to connect Asia with Africa and Europe via the continental belt and maritime road across 65 countries. Its aim is to improve regional integration, increase trade and stimulate economic growth.

The Algerian Trademark Law 03-06 (2003) states that a trademark registration is valid for 10 years from the application’s filing date and may be renewed for 10-year periods after this.

In 2015 the Algerian Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) implemented new rules on renewing trademark registrations, which stated that renewals should be accompanied by proof of use and delivered in the year preceding the renewal deadline. This requirement applies to trademarks but excludes other distinctive trade signs.

Vítor Sérgio Moreira, Patent Engineer at Inventa International​, provide a case study on utility models in Angola, Brazil, Mozambique and Portugal.

The African Organisation for Intellectual Property (OAPI) IP system is ruled by the Bangui Agreement, which was amended in 2019. This has resulted in changes to the IP system for French-speaking countries in Africa. The main alterations are to the prosecution and litigation procedures with regard to trademarks, patents and administration.

Western Sahara is an Atlantic-coastal desert area of 266,000km2, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean, Morocco, Algeria and Mauritania. A former Spanish colony, it has been on the the United Nations (UN) list of non-self-governing territories since 1965 along with 17 other territories.

‘Non-self-governing territories’ are defined as "territories whose people have not yet attained a full measure of self-government” according to Chapter XI of the UN Charter.