Trademarks

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.

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.

AfrIPI is the EUIPO’s first IP-focused project that collaborates with African jurisdictions.

Expected to last four years, it was launched in February 2020 and the Project Steering Committee’s inaugural meeting was on 7 September 2020. In addition to the European Commission and the EUIPO, the other project partners are the African Regional Intellectual Property Organisation (ARIPO), the African Intellectual PropertyOrganisation (OAPI) and the African Union Commission.

Even though Cape Verde has only a slight presence in international and regional treaties and conventions – it only became a signatory to the World Trade Organisation’s Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property in 2008 – its Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) has always shown proof of a particular feature: its rigorousness with the formal requirements for filing industrial property rights, specifically supporting documentation.

The formal requirements for a trademark application in Cape Verde when the applicant is a company are as follows:

In March, the Angolan government declared a state of emergency due to the outbreak of covid-19, enforcing mandatory lockdowns and the closure of all establishments trading non-essential goods and services. This lasted approximately one month, and since then the subject of the mandatory use of trademarks has frequently arisen.

Trademark owners have a monopoly over the use of their registered mark insofar as they can prevent third parties from using equal or similar signs on the market for the same or related products and services. However, in order to benefit from trademark rights, the owner must meet certain requirements, one of which is to use the mark with regard to the products or services for which it was registered.

Requirement of use

Africa is the second largest continent in terms of size and population. Prior to the covid-19 outbreak, its young communities, developing economies and access to commodities meant that Africa was increasingly becoming a recipient of foreign direct investment.

Foreign companies wishing to protect their brands in any of the 54 countries on the continent should be aware of a few key IP management tips to ensure the protection of their trademarks without harming their legal protection.

It is common to see a peak in trademark applications that contain terms associated with a recent event and the covid-19 outbreak is no exception.