Industrial Design

The African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement (AfCFTA) was signed on March 21, 2018, at Kigali, Rwanda, where 44 out of 55 African Union member states appended their assent to a landmark treaty.

One fundamental aim of every civil justice system is the efficiency, assuring that any administrative or judicial institution be capable of decide in a timely and cost-effective manner, without compromising the quality and legitimacy of the process, which is known by the principle of procedural economy or judicial economy.

This principle is particularly important in the context of the European Union, where multiple institutions, including the European Commission, the European Parliament, and the Council of the European Union, are involved in the decision-making process.

Inventa's team has been contributing to the updating of several chapters related to African jurisdictions in the Manual IP, published annually by Wolters Kluwer International Group.

The European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) made available new forms of support for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) based in the European Union. The SME Fund call for proposals is supported by the European Commission and the EUIPO, taking the form of IP vouchers that will co-finance IP-related activities.

In addition to the previously available vouchers (1 and 2), the following are now eligible:

One of the most notable events for women in current affairs this year is undoubtedly the popular uprising in Iran. Uniting women and men from the country and around the world under the slogan "Woman, Life, Freedom," Iranian women have brought the issue of women's status at the center of the international community discussions.

Mauritius is enjoying a year full of changes and progress, which began with the Industrial Property Act 2019 entering into force on January 31, 2022.

Currently, Mauritius is a member of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), and a signatory to the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property, the Universal Copyright Convention, and the Berne Convention.

The Inventa IP Review magazine highlights some of the IP news of the previous year, written by our team, through opinion articles, interviews or press releases. We cover relevant topics that have marked the field of innovation, trademarks, patents or intellectual property rights, mainly in Europe, Africa and Asia.

The 2022 edition shares useful information on the protection of trademarks in different jurisdictions, the entry into the Unitary Patent system and also the impact that may arise from the Russian-Ukrainian conflict in the IP field.

Botswana, officially the Republic of Botswana is an African country bordering Namibia, South Africa, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. The geographical position of Botswana is both an advantage due to its strategic location for commercial purposes and a disadvantage, considering the enormous opportunities for the smuggling of counterfeiting products and services.

Organized by the Pharmaceutical Trade Marks Group, PTMG Conferences bring together IP and Pharmaceutical professionals and cover a wide range of topics regarding trademarks in the pharmaceutical industry and other related subjects.

This year, Inventa proudly sponsors the PTMG Autumn Conference “PTMG on the road again - Trademarks Back to the Future”, held in the hometown of Inventa's headquarters, Lisbon.

Tiago Reis Nobre and Vitor Palmela Fidalgo continue to follow the event closely, which also marks the 100th Annual PTMG Conference.

San Francisco (USA) hosted the 2022 edition of the AIPPI World Conference on 10-13 September. Organised by the AIPPI, the event brought together IP profissionals to discuss, share and exchange insights on various areas of IP.

Inventa joined the event being represented by Daniel Reis Nobre, Tiago Reis Nobre and Vitor Palmela Fidalgo, where they had the opportunity to share some of the latest news about IP in Europe and Africa.

Next year the congress will take place in Istanbul (Turkey).