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AfrIPI Co-host the Workshop on the Promotion of ARIPO Protocols in Mauritius

2 Jun 2023
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AfrIPI, in partnership with the African Regional Intellectual Property Organization (ARIPO) and the Industrial Property Office of Mauritius (IPOM), under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Regional Integration and International Trade, hosted the Workshop on the Promotion of ARIPO Protocols. The three-day Workshop took place from 31 May to 2 June 2023 at the InterContinental Resort in Balaclava, Mauritius. It brought together representatives of National IP Offices from 19 African countries.

The Workshop on the Promotion of ARIPO Protocols aimed to promote awareness of the ARIPO Protocols and encourage the participating countries that have not yet joined some or all of these Protocols to do so. ARIPO’s objectives, as stated in Article III of the Lusaka Agreement, show that cooperation in intellectual property (IP) is intended to achieve technological advancement and contribute to the sustainable development of its Member States. Some of these objectives require ARIPO to promote the harmonisation and development of the IP laws and matters related to them that are appropriate to the needs of its members and the region, and to promote the exchange of ideas and experience, research, and studies relating to IP matters. Following the Lusaka agreement of 1976, ARIPO has adopted the following five IP Protocols:

  • The Harare Protocol on Patents and Industrial Designs;

  • The Banjul Protocol on Marks;

  • The Swakopmund Protocol on the Protection of Traditional Knowledge and Expressions of Folklore;

  • The Arusha Protocol for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants; and

  • The Kampala Protocol on Voluntary Registration of Copyright and Related Rights.

In addition, the Workshop also provided a platform to increase awareness of AfrIPI and its activities and to demonstrate some of the ICT tools that the EU makes freely available to ARIPO Member and Observer States. These tools serve the purpose of modernising and making national intellectual property offices more efficient.

His Excellency Hon Soomilduth Bholah, the Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Trade of the Republic of Mauritius, was the guest of honour at the opening ceremony. Remarks were delivered by high-level officials, including Mr Vincent Degert, Ambassador of the European Union to the Republic of Mauritius and to the Republic of Seychelles, Mr Bemanya Twebaze, the Director General of ARIPO, Mr Ranjive Beergaunot, the Acting Controller of IPOM and Ms Aida Galindo, the Project Leader of AfrIPI.

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