IP/C/W/654/Add.4  
 
7 October  2019 
(19-6464) Page: 1/5 
Council for Trade -Related Aspects of  
Intellectual Property Rights  Original: English  
 
TECHNICAL COOPERATIO N ACTIVITIES: INFORM ATION FROM  
OTHER INTERGOVERNMEN TAL ORGANIZATIONS  
AFRICAN REGIONAL INT ELLECTUAL PROPERTY O RGANIZATION (ARIPO)  
Addendum  
At its meeting of 6 June 201 9, the Council for TRIPS agreed to invite intergovernmental organization 
observers to the Council to update the information on their technical and financial cooperation 
programmes relating to the implementation of the TRIPS Agreement.  
 
The present document reproduces the information which has been  received from the 
African  Regional Intellectual Property Organization (ARIPO) by means of a communication dated 
4 October  2019. 
 
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1.  This document presents a report on main cooperation programmes and activities undertaken by 
the African Regional Intellectual Property Organization (ARIPO) from 1 October 2018 to 
20 September 2019  which are relevant to the TRIPS Agreement and other IP comp onents, following 
the invitation of the Chair of the Council for TRIPS in his letter of 28 June 2019 to provide updated 
information on such activities . 
2.  During the period at stake, the activities that ARIPO undertook in the framework of cooperation 
relevant  to the TRIPS Agreement covered mainly the capacity building and awareness creation 
organized either solely or in collaboration with cooperating partners .  
3.  In capacity building ARIPO continued sponsoring students from Member States to undertake the 
Master Programme in Intellectual Property that is offered at the Africa University in Mutare, 
Zimbabwe, in collaboration with WIPO and the Japan Patent Office. ARIPO is also sponsoring a similar 
programme (MPhil) in Ghana (in collaboration with the Kumasi Kwame N krumah University of 
Science & Technology) and in Tanzania (in collaboration with the University of Dar es Salaam). In 
awareness creation, the flagship initiative undertaken in collaboration with WIPO is the organization 
of IP weeks in selected Member Stat es. 
4.  Another important highlight worth noting is a high -level mission that was conducted in Eswatini 
from 13 to 15 May 2019 in collaboration with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). 
The objectives of the mission included the assessment of t he implementation of the Intellectual 
Property Development Plan that was developed in 2015 with the technical support of WIPO; to 
deliver a presentation to the Cabinet of the Kingdom of Eswatini on "IP and Development and the 
role of the IP Office "; and to  create awareness on IP among Senior Government Officials.  
5.  The following matrix provides details on technical and financial cooperation activities relevant to 
the TRIPS Agreement and other IP components undertaken by ARIPO, and they cover Training 
initiati ves and awareness creation; Assistance to National Intellectual Property Offices in ARIPO 
Member States; and publications . 
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- 2 - ANNEX 1 
Activity  Location and date  Brief description  
1. CAPACITY BUILDING AND AWARENESS CREATION INITIATIVES (including organization of workshops, symposia and conferences ) 
3rd Symposium on Copyright and 
Related Rights  (1st Regional meeting 
for African Heads of Copyright 
Offices)  
 Nairobi, Kenya, 10 – 14 June 2018  The 3rd edition of the Symposium was organized in the framework of the Tripartite 
Agreement among WIPO, ARIPO and OAPI that was executed in 2018 during the 58th 
Sessions of the WIPO Assemblies. Participants came from 45 Countries across Africa.  
 
One of the outco mes of the meeting is the adoption of the Nairobi Strategic Plan for the 
Development of Copyright and Related Rights in Africa, a the strategy that will guide every 
African Country to achieve the development of an effective and efficient Copyright system.  
 
High Level Round Table on 
Geographical Indications  Yaoundé, Cameroon, 4 – 5 June 2019  The Conference was jointly organized by WIPO, ARIPO and OAPI. The Conference, which 
is also an initiative in the framework of the Tripartite Agreement, was organized u nder the 
theme: "Geographical Indications in Africa: Territorial Development, Economic Integration 
and International Trade ". The China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) 
also provided assistance in the organization of the Conference. Par ticipants to the Round 
Table came from ARIPO and OAPI Member States.  
 
One of the main outcomes of the round table is the Declaration of Yaoundé that highlights 
items and activities to be implemented  at the national level to develop systems of 
protection an d valorisation  of Geographical Indications (GIs) and other distinctive signs of 
products of origin related to the quality for the benefit of local producers and local 
development.   
 
IP Week  Accra, Ghana, 6 – 10 May 2019  The IP week is an initiative that is part of the Cooperation Agreement between WIPO and 
the two African regional Organizations (ARIPO and OAPI) which is aimed at strengthening 
the capacity of selected Countries that have taken steps to harness the IP system to 
accelerate th eir economic transformation. The IP Week has been conceived as a 5 -day 
national event that targets two groups of stakeholders in back to back workshops dedicated 
to capacity building and introduction of various IP tools available in various areas of 
econom ic activity.  
 
The Countries that were selected this year are: Cameroon, Ghana, Kenya, Rwanda and 
Uganda.  
 
Workshops in that regard have been jointly organised by WIPO and ARIPO in Ghana, Kenya 
and Rwanda.  Nairobi, Kenya, 18 – 21 June 2019  
Kigali, Rwanda, 24 – 28 June 2019  
 
1 In English only.   
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- 3 - Activity  Location and date  Brief description  
 
In Ghana, over 110 participants attended the eve nt; they came from SMEs (textile/fashion 
sector, manufacturing/food processing and agribusiness as well as universities and 
Research Institutions. In Kenya and …  
 
The IP Week in Rwanda attracted 98 participants from SMEs, Research Institutions and 
handicr aft sector.  
 
In Kenya, over 100 participants from SMEs and Universities and Research and Development 
Institutions attended the workshops.  
 
As a follow up to these workshops, projects will subsequently be initiated in those two 
priority areas in consultati on with the national IP Offices and the relevant stakeholders.     
 
The Africa regional Intellectual 
Property enforcement training for 
judicial instructors  Gaborone, Botswana, 23 – 26 April 2019  The training was co -organised by ARIPO and the Companies and Intellectual Property 
Authority of Botswana (CIPA) with support from the United States Department of Justice 
(USDoJ) and the United States Patent and Trademark Office  (USPTO) for Judicial 
Instructors from ARIPO Member States and Observer States. 46 participants from the 
Judiciary and Law Enforcement agencies attended the Training.  
 
Seminar on the role of Intellectual 
Property in media broadcasting  Harare, Zimbabwe, 12 March 2019  This one-day Seminar was organised by ARIPO and the Zimbabwe Broadcasting 
Corporation (ZBC) for the benefit of the ZBC staff members. The Seminar is part of the 
Agreement that was signed in 2017 between ARIPO and ZBC with the aim of  creating 
awareness of the large public on Intellectual Property among other objectives.  
 
WIPO -ARIPO Regional Meeting on 
developing the Regional Technology 
and Innovation Support Centre 
(TISC) Network  ARIPO Headquarters, Harare,  
19 – 20 September 2019  The meeting was jointly organised by WIPO and ARIPO, with support from the Japan Patent 
Office. The meeting aimed at making follow up on developments in the regional TISCs that 
following the ARIPO Regional TISC Action Plan that was adopted drawn up in the Meeting 
of 2018 and adopted by the ARIPO in November 2018, and discussing the next steps with 
regard to Action Plan.  
 
Patent Drafting Course  ARIPO Headquarters, Harare,  
2 – 6 September 2019  The training course was organized by WIPO in cooperation with AR IPO, with the support 
from the Japan Patent Office (JPO).  
 
The particularity of the 2019 edition of the Course is the important number of participants 
from Universities and Research and Development Institutions from 16 ARIPO Member 
States and other Africa n Countries (Ethiopia, Niger, Nigeria and South Africa). Other 
participants were patent examiners from IP Offices, officers from Technology Transfer 
Offices, IP Attorneys and agents, as well as officers from Science and Technology Offices 
in ARIPO Member S tates and observer States.  
 
In total 34 participants attended the Course.   
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- 4 - Activity  Location and date  Brief description  
Seminars on the Patent Cooperation 
Treaty (PCT)  Masvingo & Harare, Zimbabwe,  
9 – 11 April 2019  These Seminars are jointly organized by WIPO and ARIPO and are aimed at raising the 
awareness among the PCT users, (patent agents, academia, IP officials and 
inventors/innovators) on the benefits of using the PCT system for the protection of 
inventions, and to provide information on the registration procedures and patent prote ction 
through the system. The seminars afford also an opportunity to provide information on 
ARIPO and the procedures of its regional system for protection of patents and utility 
models, and information on industrial property in general.  
 
In Masvingo and Ha rare (Zimbabwe), 56 participants attended the Seminars.  
 
In Namibia, around 30 participants attended the Seminar and were mainly staff members 
of the IP Office and few from Law Firms and Universities.  
 
In Luanda, Angola, 30 participants from Angola IP Off ice, Mozambique, Cap Verde and Sao 
Tome and Principe attended the Seminar.  
 
In Nampula, Mozambique, 30 participants benefited from the Seminar.  
 Windhoek, Namibia, 20 – 22 May 2019  
Luanda, Angola, 9 – 11 July 2019  
Nampula, Mozambique, 27 – 28 September 
2019 
Offering sponsorship to students to 
undertake the Master of Intellectual 
Property (MIP programme)  Africa University, Mutare, Zimbabwe  
 
Kwame Nkrumah University of Science & 
Technology in Kumasi, Ghana  
 
University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania  The MIP programme is jointly organized by ARIPO, WIPO and partner Universities with the 
support of the Japan Patent Office.  
 
The programme was initiated to develop a critical mass of Intellectual Property experts for 
the development of the Intell ectual Property system in Africa.  
 
The 11th cohort graduated in June 2019. Another intake (12th cohort) is expected to 
graduate in the course of the year 2020.  
 
So far, the programme has produced 324 IP graduates from 26 African Countries from the 
1st to the 11th cohort from ARIPO Member States and other Countries in Africa.  
 
In 2018, the programme was extended to the K wame Nkrumah University of Science & 
Technology in Kumasi, Ghana. This year (2019), the programme has been extended to  the 
University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania . 
 
2. ASSISTANCE TO NATIONAL INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY OFFICES  
High Level Mission to Eswatini  Mbabane, Eswatini, 13 – 15 May 2019  The mission jointly conducted by ARIPO and WIPO and it aimed at assessing the 
implementation of the Intellectual Property Development Plan (IPDP) of the Kingdom of 
Eswatini that was developed in 2015 with the technical support of WIPO; discussing the 
findings of the WIPO Follow -up mission undertaken in 2018; delivering a presentation for 
the Cabinet on "IP and Development and the role of the IP Office "; and creating awareness 
among Senior Government Officials and the newly established IP Inter -Ministerial 
Committee on IP and mechanisms for the implementation of the IPDP in the Kingdom of 
Eswatini.   
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- 5 - Activity  Location and date  Brief description  
3. PUBLICATIONS  
Publication of Guiding tools to assist 
Member States; and other 
publications  ARIPO, Harare, End 2018 – 2019  In end 2018 and during 2019, the following publications were registered:   
- Guide to contracts, Literary works  
- African Journal of Intellectual Property – AJIP – Volume 3, Issues 1 & 2 (jointly 
published twice a year by ARIPO and the Africa University)  
- ARIPO Model Law on Copyright and Related Rights  
- Guidelines on Ratification/Accession and Domestication of International 
Instruments on Copyrights and Related Rights  
 
 
 
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