Industrial Design

The new Portuguese Industrial Property Code was published on December 10th last year. After six months have passed we reiterate some of the main changes.

Patents | Utility Models | Drawings or Models

SENAPI – Sao Tome and Principe Intellectual Property Office has announced an update of the official fees for the Intellectual Property (IP) procedures in the country.

The new fees came in to force on 1, July 2019, and reflect a slight increment of the values charged on all procedures concerning Trademarks, Patents, Industrial Designs and other generic fees applied by the services.

The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) has just opened its sixth External Office. Located in Algeria this is the organization’s first of two representations planned for the African Continent, has it is foreseen the opening of another WIPO representation in Nigeria.

Universidade Nova de Lisboa was the chosen stage for the initiative Intellectual Property for Fashion Entrepreneurs.

At this event, organized by Community in Law, the participant, from all over the fashion industry, had the opportunity to learn, with João Francisco Sá, some of the best strategies to protect their designs and trademarks.

The Authorities of Kenya have published, on April 10th 2018, The Statue Law (Miscellaneous Amendments) Bill, 2018, a legislation for the amendments of several laws, in which the Industrial Property Act, 2001 (No. 3 of 2001), the Copyright Act, 2001 (No. 12 of 2001), the Anti-Counterfeit Act, 2008 (No. 13 of 2008) and the Protection of Traditional Knowledge and Cultural Expressions Act, 2016 (No. 33 of 2016) are included.

The new Industrial Property Regulations were finally published in the Namibian Government Gazette on the 1st day of June, 2018 and the law came into effect two months after, on the 1st of August.

The Act means to repeal the Trade Marks in South West Africa Act, dated 1973, introducing new provisions for trademarks, patents and industrial designs.

The new legal frame has been long anticipated and concerns several changes in what relates Industrial Property.

This e-book contains comprehensive information about Designs in each African jurisdiction, such as requirements for design applications, renewals, licenses, change of name or address, opposition deadlines and other singularities in each country. It also gathers each country's general information and our indicative timeframes for completing a Design registration.

The “Brexit” referendum took place a year and a half ago and the terms for the withdrawal began being formally discussed since March last year. Intellectual Property rights had to be - rightly so - part of the debate.

In the light of EU and UK Government’s most recent draft agreement on the country’s withdrawal from the European Union - published March 19th - provisions were made on the protection and enforcement of IP rights, to be of effect after the end of the transitional period.

After attending INTA’s conference “The Power of Design”, Inês Monteiro Alves discusses the lack of mention of Africa as a Continent, regarding IP rights and designs in particular.

Upon attending the INTA’s Conference “The Power of Design” on February this year, in London, I became aware of the lack of mention of Africa as a Continent in what regards the protection of IP Rights in general and designs in particular.

John Steinbeck, in one of his works, questioned "Without our past, how will we know it´s us?"  João de Barros also said "the man without memory has the understanding of little boy".

The preservation of our past, made of narrations and expositions of facts and memorable events, is a common concern for as long as memory exists. Characterized by historical feats, it is also externalized by artistic forms, namely traditional cultural expressions.