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Cape Verde makes its first steps to protect Appellations of Origin and Geographical Indications

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. However, this has started to change, thanks to actions driven by WIPO and the Portuguese National Ins...

April 7, 2020

Diana Pereira

Opinion Nigeria Copyright Africa

The implementation of the Beijing Audiovisual Performances Treaty in Nigeria

The Beijing Treaty on Audiovisual Performances is a multilateral treaty which regulates copyright related rights for audiovisual performances and expands the performers' rights. It was adopted on 26 June 2012 by the Diplomatic Conference on the Protection of Audiovisual Performances of the World Intellectual Property Organization, in which 156 WIPO member states, six intergovernmental, and six...

April 7, 2020

Angela Adebayo

Opinion Patent

Patent Applications as an Indicator of Research and Development Against Coronaviruses

Objective In the context of COVID-19 pandemics, this article aims to use the published patent documents as a source of background information about the studies carried on to finding out a treatment against the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) and the Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV), which are caused by other types of human coronaviruses. The pa...

April 3, 2020

Vítor Sérgio Moreira

Opinion Ghana Tunisia Industrial Design Trademark Africa

Increase in IP fees could shake up filing in Ghana and Tunisia

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 201...

March 31, 2020

Inês Tavares

Opinion Angola Trademark Law Africa

Registration challenges for pharmaceutical trademarks in Angola

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. In 2018, several publications in the ...

March 31, 2020

Miguel Bibe

Opinion Mozambique Counterfeiting Trademark Africa Industrial Property

Counterfeit goods: a critical situation in Mozambique

The production of counterfeit goods is common in the trademark field as it is a business opportunity based on the consumer’s inability to identify second-generation goods. Laws surrounding this activity include: Article 177(1) of the Mozambican Industrial Property Code (Decree 47/2015), which defines the ‘production of counterfeit goods’ as an infringement committed b...

March 26, 2020

Júlia Alves Coutinho

Announcement Angola Patent Trademark Law Africa

Angola updates its Intellectual Property official fees and procedures

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...

March 26, 2020

Announcement Tanzania Law Africa Industrial Property

Changes to Zanzibar’s Intellectual Property Practice

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. The ORS intends to modernize the registration process, making it easier and faster when compared to the manual filing. It is impo...

March 25, 2020

Opinion Mozambique Trademark Africa Industrial Property

The law on distinctive signs in Mozambique explained

There are multiple types of industrial property rights that an entity can use to protect the following distinctive signs in commerce in Mozambique: trademark, logotype, trade name, establishment name, establishment insignia and corporate name. Distinctive signs and the law Articles 121 to 162 of Chapter IV of the Industrial Property Code deal with trademark rights. They define a ‘tra...

March 19, 2020

João Pereira Cabral

Announcement Timor-Leste Asia

East-Timor tolerance days-off on March 17 and 18

After an extraordinary meeting of the Council of Ministers, the East-Timor government decided to grant a point tolerance on the 17th and 18th of March in the Municipality of Dili. This decision comes after the strong torrential rains which, last Friday, devastated the capital, left several displaced and caused property damage in neighborhoods in the central and eastern areas of the city. The re...

March 17, 2020

Announcement Industrial Design Trademark Europe

EPO and EUIPO announce new measures as Covid-19 spreads

In light of the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe, the EUIPO (European Union Intellectual Property Office) have announced that all deadlines between 9 March 2020 and 30 April 2020 are extended until 1 May 2020 (in fact, all limits are extended until Monday 4 May, given that Friday 1 May is Labor Day). Until further notice, all EUIPO staff will work from home but will continue to send communications,...

March 17, 2020

Opinion Lesotho Trademark Africa

How to stay on top of trademark oppositions in Lesotho

Lesotho has been a signatory member of the Paris Convention since 1989. In 1999 it ratified the Madrid Agreement and Protocol and on that same year the Banjul Protocol on Marks within the framework of the African Regional Intellectual Property Organisation (ARIPO). There are thus three routes to obtaining registration of a trademark in Lesotho: nationally – directly with the nationa...

March 17, 2020

Inês Monteiro Alves

Jurisdiction