Trademarks

Inspired by Article 6 quinquies of the Paris Convention, Annex 3, Article 3(c) of the Bangui Agreement provides that a trademark cannot be registered if “it is contrary to public policy, morality or the law”. The legal concept of good morals is present in almost all WIPO members’ trademark legislation. In particular, morality comes into play when trademark applicants – whether deliberately or not – apply to register controversial marks (ie, marks that contain insulting, sexually connotative, racist or religious or culturally offensive words or images).

The Seychelles is an archipelago in the Indian Ocean with less than 100,000 inhabitants. Data gathered over the past 13 years provides an interesting overview of the country’s trademark filing landscape.

World Trademark Review (WTR) has announced its WTR 1000 - The World's Leading Trademark Professionals for 2021, recognizing both leading firms and individuals in their field. 

We are proud and honoured to know that Inventa International was once again recommended in this year's edition as a top Intellectual Property firm in Portugal and Nigeria ranking.

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.

Today we launch Inventa IP Review, an annual compilation with the main Intellectual Property (IP) topics of the previous year, through opinion articles and relevant announcements.

A year has passed since the COVID-19 pandemic created an unprecedented disruption in global development. But in some way, it also allowed us to be more resilient and find new routes of communicating.

The path of Intellectual Property was no different.

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.