INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS IN ARIPO

The African Regional Industrial Property Organization (ARIPO) is another IP organization in Africa with a total of 19 member countries. The member states include Botswana, Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, Swaziland (Eswatini), Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

In ARIPO, there are two relevant protocols, namely Banjul Protocol and Harare Protocol, which deal with trademarks and patents, respectively.

All the nineteen (19) member states of ARIPO (mentioned above) are party to the Harare Protocol and can be designated for a Patent Application before the ARIPO, excluding Somalia.

An applicant can file a patent application either before the national office of the contracting state or directly with the ARIPO Office.

Process Patent and Product Patent are the two types of patents that can be protected in ARIPO.

In ARIPO, any invention that satisfies the conditions of novelty, inventive step, and industrial applicability, subjects to patentability.

The types of patent applications in ARIPO include Non-Convention Application, Convention Application, PCT National Phase Application, and Divisional Application.

Utility Model Protection is not available under the patent law.

The time-period for the PCT National Phase Filing is thirty-one (31) months.

Opposition against a patent application can be raised at the post-grant stage within six (06) months from the date of publication of the patent grant.

The patent of invention lasts for twenty (20) years in ARIPO.

The time frame for payment of Annuities before the due date is six (06) months.

The African Regional Industrial Property Organization (ARIPO) is another IP organization in Africa with a total of 19 member countries. The member states include Botswana, Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, Swaziland (Eswatini), Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

ARIPO is a member of the Paris Convention.

In ARIPO, there are two relevant protocols, namely the Banjul Protocol, which deals with trademarks, and the Harare Protocol, which deals with patents, industrial designs, and utility models.

All the nineteen (19) member states of ARIPO (mentioned above) are party to the Harare Protocol and can be designated for an industrial design application before ARIPO, excluding Somalia.

An applicant can file an industrial design application either before the national office of the contracting state or directly with the ARIPO Office.

The types of industrial design applications in ARIPO include Non-Convention Application and Convention Application.

Utility model protection isn't provided under industrial design protection in ARIPO.

Opposition against an industrial design application can't be raised in ARIPO.

As per the Harare Protocol, The total duration of an industrial design registration is ten (10) years from the date of application. The renewal fee falls due annually beginning from the first anniversary of the date of application.

There is a grace period of six (06) months to renew an industrial design in ARIPO.

The African Regional Industrial Property Organization (ARIPO) is another IP organization in Africa with a total of 19 member countries. The member states include Botswana, Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, Sao Tome & Principe, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, Swaziland (Eswatini), Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

The Copyright and Related Rights were included in ARIPO in 2002. The administration of these rights in the ARIPO member states is enabled by the legislation that is put in place in the respective countries.

Most of the ARIPO member states have the categories of works as per Article 2 of the Berne Convention in their respective Copyright Laws. The same includes literary works like computer programs, speeches, books, journals, poems, and novels, musical works like lyrics and musical notations, artistic works like sculptures, paintings, and cartoons, dramatic works like scripts, audio-visual works like movies, and applied artworks like jewelry.

In some member states, the standard copyright protection term lasts for the lifetime of the author plus fifty (50) years following his death, and in others, it lasts for the lifetime of the author plus seventy (70) years following his death. However, the duration of copyright protection varies depending on the type of work.