Trademarks

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.

The Somalia Trademarks Office resumed its operations at the end of 2019, when Ministerial Decree 1/2019 was issued by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, stipulating that trademark registrations are once again possible in this former Italian colony and British Protectorate.

Background

Libya lies along the southern edge of the Mediterranean in North Africa and is the fourth largest Arab nation in the world. It has a population of almost 7 million people, 97% of whom are Sunni Muslims.

Sharia is the main source of law in all Islamic states. It is derived from the Qur’an and the traditions (Sunnah) of the Prophet Mohammad by religious scholars (the ulema) who have been trained in one or more schools of Islamic jurisprudence. In line with Sharia practice, each Islamic country has its own IP laws.

The African Regional Intellectual Property Organisation (ARIPO) allows an applicant to register a regional trademark, which designates the following countries:

• Botswana;
• Eswatini;
• Lesotho;
• Liberia;
• Malawi;
• Namibia;
• Sao Tome and Principe;
• Tanzania;
• Uganda; and
• Zimbabwe.

One of the main differences between ARIPO and the African Intellectual Property Organisation is that at the former it is possible to designate several or all member states.

Inventa International contributed with Portugal and Angola chapters in the ninth edition “Trade Marks 2020” of International Comparative Legal Guide (ICLG), published by Global Legal Group.

These guidelines summarize legislation and regulations regarding trademarks in both countries focusing on the main steps, timings, requirements and other related rights.

During its short existence, the Cape Verde Institute of Management and Quality of Intellectual Property (IGQPI) has mainly focused on protecting trademarks and patents. Other IP rights – such as appellations of origin and geographical indications (GIs) – have therefore been ignored.

Many African countries have raised their IP fees in the past few years. This is due to economic growth, a rising interest in protecting IP assets and the modernisation of countries’ IP systems. For example, in 2017, the Democratic Republic of Congo hiked up its prices by roughly 15% and South Africa’s Trademark Office announced an increase in official fees (effective from 1 October 2019). Egypt has also stated its intention to follow suit for industrial property services payments. This article focuses on Ghana and Tunisia, which have both raised costs for their IP services this year.

In Angola, all trademark applications are subject to examination by the Angolan Institute of Industrial Property (IAPI). During this process, if the institute concludes that there are grounds for refusal as specified under Articles 31(1) and 35 of the Angolan Industrial Property Law, it will publish the refusal in the Industrial Property Bulletin.

Implemented by the Presidential Decree No. 62/20 of 4 March, the new official fees related to Industrial Property procedures in Angola, were published in the Official Gazette of the Angola Republic.

The new fees came into force on March 20, 2020 and reflect an increase of values in all Industrial Property procedures practiced in this jurisdiction, updating rates that have remained unchanged for more than 20 years.

The first, and probably the most significate change, is that Zanzibar’s Business and Property Registration Agency (BPRA) has introduced the Online Registration System (ORS) that has already been put in place in Tanzania (Tanganyika) with very promising results.