Prosecution

WIPO recently released its annual 2019 statistics, which revealed a record year in terms of international IP rights. This article focuses on international trademark applications coming from Africa.

The Madrid Protocol on the International Registration of Marks (1989) currently has 106 members, covering 122 countries. In Africa, the Madrid Protocol has 22 members over 38 countries, due to the participation of the African Intellectual Property Organisation.

On 30 July 2019, the Mauritius Parliament approved and passed the Industrial Property Bill 2019, it was then published in the Government Gazette on 10 August 2019. The bill aims to update and strengthen protection for IP rights, as well as to harmonize the current legislation in order to meet the challenges of the globalized industry.

Vítor Sérgio Moreira of Inventa International examines the growing trend in EU priority claims in ARIPO patent applications and looks at which sectors those applications are most likely to originate from.

This study aims to identify the profile of the filing of patent applications before the European Patent Office (EPO), wherein at least an applicant is domiciled in Africa, and to acquire more information about the main technological fields and applicants from Africa that seek patent protection within the member states of EPO.

There have been many changes in 2020 to procedures for registering industrial property rights in Angola, particularly with regard to trademark registration. The most significant revision is the change to the payment period for granting fees, which alters the entire procedure for registering trademarks in the country, along with the possibility of requesting a 60-day extension.

The government of Mozambique deposited its instrument of Accession to the Banjul Protocol on the 15th of May 2020 and will effectively become a member of ARIPO’s protocol for trademarks on August 15, 2020. It will, therefore, be possible to designate Mozambique in an ARIPO application filed from that date.

Zanzibar’s Business and Property Registration Agency (BPRA) recently introduced several changes to its practice, which are set to have an impact on the country’s IP landscape.

The most important amendment is arguably the introduction of an online registration system. It aims to accelerate application proceedings, although this may take a while to be fully effective as it will require automating all existing processes. Implementing a paperless office is a positive, environmentally friendly decision.

Angola is one of many countries that recognises IP rights as an important contribution to a country’s social and economic development. It is a member of WIPO and adopted the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property. Further, Law 3/92 (published in the Official Gazette (9) on 28 February 1992) was the first piece of specific IP legislation in the country.

The following registration process for a trademark in Angola is simple and similar to procedures in many other jurisdictions:

Following the previous deadline extension until 1 May 2020, the European Union Intellectual Property Office’s (EUIPO) Executive Director has issued Decision No EX-20-4, which extends until 18 May all time limits expiring between 1 May 2020 and 17 May 2020 that affect all parties in proceedings before the Office.

The Angolan Patent and Trademark Office has announced by Notification n.º 7/2020, the resumption of its activities from April 27.

This Notification follows the Presidential Decree No. 120/20, of April 24 which, despite extending the state of emergency, provides in its Article 14 the reopening of the Public Services and foresees some security measures.