News - Inventa

Subscribe to our Newsletter (No Spam)

South Africa: Where is the trade secrets rulebook?

Understanding trade secrets is fundamental to protect IP but it is also essential to innovation on a global scale. Despite countless litigations, many countries, like South Africa, still lack specific laws related to trade secrets. This begs the question, does the common law offer enough protection? Trade secrets run parallel with other intangible assets and IP rights—eg, patents, tradema...

November 30, 2022

Sofia Araújo

Opinion Nigeria Copyright Law Africa

Nigeria: Copyright and the protection of creatives

This article serves the purpose of educating creatives on the importance of copyright laws in Nigeria. It also provides insight into the major aspects of copyrights, its protection, and their implication on creatives. It is worthy of note that the principal law that governs copyrights in Nigeria is the Copyright Act LFN 2004, and the government agency that is responsible for the regulatio...

November 22, 2022

Adeoluwa Ademola

Opinion OAPI Trademark Africa

Africa: Non-conventional trademarks at OAPI

Published in IP Stars, Inês Sequeira and Diana Pereira offer an overview of the recent legislative changes that have been contributing to expanding the definition of a trademark at OAPI, allowing some categories of non-conventional trademarks to become more widely accepted for registration in recent times. Read the full article here.

October 25, 2022

Inês Sequeira

Opinion China European Union Trademark Europe

Trademark Registrations Trends in the European Union Region by Chinese Applicants in 2022

We are halfway through the year 2022. Covid-19 is not yet eradicated and the armed conflict in Ukraine promises to shake economies globally. How are applicants from China facing this scenario? Will there be a slowdown in the expansion of their trademarks? Through this study, we will verify the main trends in registration since the beginning of the year in the European Union region (EU trademark...

October 18, 2022

Diogo Antunes

Opinion European Union Counterfeiting Trademark Europe

Counterfeits: breaking young people’s consumer habits

With the technological advance of the internet, increased access to content and information is proportional to the heightened access to content that infringes IP rights. If it is possible to access entertainment content on a paid streaming service, it is also possible to find on the internet the same movie, music or game on platforms that provide this access sometimes for free and without the p...

October 13, 2022

Mariana Hazt Lencina

Press Release Portugal Trademark Europe Industrial Property

2022 PTMG Autumn Conference

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&...

October 7, 2022

Announcement European Union Patent Europe

Unitary Patent System expected in the spring of 2023

During this morning's session (October 4, 2022) of the Patent Knowledge Week, an annual event that aims to help all innovation professionals in matters associated with patents, the European Patent Office (EPO) brought new information about the entry into force of the Unitary Patent System. It is expected to start in April 2023, the same year that the European Patent Convention (EPC) celeb...

October 4, 2022

Opinion United States of America European Union Patent Asia

Top of the props: patents and music

It is well known that patents are an exclusive right granted for inventions, namely, products and processes which are new, inventive, and provided with industrial application. When it comes to music, original compositions are commonly protected by copyright or trademarks (the latter being only possible in the countries where the registration of sound marks is allowed). Even though musical creat...

September 28, 2022

Marisol Cardoso

Opinion South Africa Switzerland European Union Patent Africa Industrial Property

WTO Geneva Package: a breakthrough for Africa?

In Geneva, on June 17, ministers, and delegates at the World Trade Organisation’s (WTO’s) Twelfth Ministerial Conference (MC12) reached an agreement on a series of key trade initiatives. The deal represents a breakthrough for the Organisation which has created one agreement between all 164 members in its 27-year existence to date. This long-anticipated achieved consensus took place...

September 23, 2022

Inês Sequeira

Announcement Mozambique Copyright Africa

New Mozambican copyright law comes into force

Approved by the Republic Assembly in March and published in the Diário Oficial in June, Decree No. 9/2022 comes into force on 26th September 2022. The new decree revokes Decree No. 4/2001 and updates the issue of copyright and neighbouring rights in Mozambique. According to article 9 of the new law, copyright belongs to the intellectual creator of the work and is recognised regardl...

September 22, 2022

Press Release United States of America Trademark Europe America Africa Industrial Property

AIPPI World Congress

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 new...

September 15, 2022

Opinion Angola Trademark Africa

Can religious trademarks be protected in Angola?

Although the religious texts do not refer to Intellectual Property (IP), religions are connected to IP. In a more evident way, religions’ influence on IP ranges from discussing and approving IP laws to registering and using trademarks. In a less obvious way, we observed a displacement of religion in trademarks, through consumerism. Like religions, well-known brands, such as Coca-Cola and...

September 1, 2022

Vera Albino

Jurisdiction