IP/C/W/644/Rev.1/Add.4  
 
19 October  2018 
(18-6558) 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 4-5 June 2018 , 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 
11 October  2018. 
 
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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 November 2017 to 
30 September 2018 which are relevant to the TRIPS Agreement and other IP components, following 
the invitation of the Chairman of the WTO Council for TRIPS in his letter of 6 July 2018 to provide 
update d information on such activities.  
2.  In the fulfilment  of its mandate enshrined in the Lusaka Agreement of 9 December 1976 on the 
creation of ARIPO, the Organization undertakes activities mainly aimed at assisting ARIPO' s 
member  States and Africa as a whole in Intellectual Property matters. During the period at stake, 
the activities undertaken in the framework of cooperation relevant to the TRIPS Agreement covered 
mainly the awareness raising and the capacity building organized either solely or in collaborati on 
with cooperating partners.    
3.  For the awareness on IP component, ARIPO continued its initiative started in 2017 of engaging 
Universities and Research Institutions as the main generators of Intellectual Property rights. A 
number of seminars were conducted  in some Universities on the theme "Fostering Creativity and 
Innovation for Economic Growth and Development in Africa ". The objective of the seminars is to 
raise IP awareness in the Universities, Colleges and Research Institutions so that they can utilize the 
intellectual property system nationally and regionally for accruing economic benefit to the 
institutions, individual rights holders and the countries at large.  
4.  With regard to Capacity Building, ARIPO continued sponsoring students to undertake the 
Maste r Programme in Intellectual Property that is offered at the Africa University in Mutare, 
Zimbabwe in collaboration with WIPO and the Japan Patent Office. It is also worth highlighting that 
ARIPO in collaboration with the Ghana Intellectual Property Office launched a new Master Programme 
in IP (MPhil) on 28 August 2018 at the Kumasi Kwame Nkrumah University of Science & Technology 
in Ghana.  
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  5.  The following matrix provides details on technical and financial cooperation activities relevant to 
the TRIPS Agreeme nt and other IP components undertaken by ARIPO . They cover training initiatives 
and awareness activities; assistance to National Intellectual Property Offices in ARIPO Member 
States as well as potential Member States; a copyright symposium and IP -related publications.  
 
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  IP/C/W/644/Rev.1/Add.4  
 
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Activity  Location and date  Brief description  
1. TRAINING INITIATIVES AND IP AWARENESS ACTIVITIES (including organization of workshops, symposia and conferences ) 
Symposium  on Copyright and Related 
Rights  
 ARIPO Headquarters, Harare,  
12 – 13 June 2018 . The 2nd edition of the Symposium  was jointly organised by ARIPO and WIPO on the theme: 
"Shaping the Copyright and Related Rights System in Africa ". The Symposium  
brought together copyright offices, collective management organizations from 18 ARIPO 
Member States, entrepreneurs and partner s. 
 
The purpose of the 2nd edition of the Symposium  was to discuss critical Copyright issues 
affecting Africa and explore ways to address copyright in the digital environment for the 
benefit of right holders, users and other stakeholders. The symposium als o sought to 
promote efficiencies of administration and management by the copyright offices and 
collective management organizations.  
Regional Training of Trainers 
Workshop on Teaching of IP in Police 
Colleges of the ARIPO Member States.  ARIPO Headquarters,  Harare,  
2 – 3 July 2018 . The Workshop was organized by ARIPO, WIPO and the Japan Patent Office.  The aim of the 
Workshop was to train law enforcement officers in the ARIPO Members States with a view 
to assist them in the prosecution of IP infringement.  
Regional Seminar on the 
Implementation and Use of Patent -
Related Flexibilities  ARIPO Headquarters, Harare,  
1 – 3 August 2018 . The Seminar was organized by ARIPO in collaboration with WIPO. Its objectives were to 
enhance the knowledge of available patent -related flexibilities and to develop skills in their 
optimal use and implementation for the benefit of ARIPO Member States.  
Subregional  meeting on the 
development of a Subregional  
Technology and Innovation Support 
Centre (TISC) Network  ARIPO Headquarters, Harare,  
28 – 31 August 2018 . The meeting was organised by ARIPO in collaboration with WIPO, with a support from the 
Japan Patent Office through the Japan Funds -in-Trust (FIT) for IP development in Africa. 
The meeting aimed at establish ing a regional TISC in order to share best practices in 
effectively using technology found in patent databases and science and technology journal 
databases.  
Patent Drafting Course for IP Officers 
and Patent Agents and Attorneys  ARIPO Headquarters, Harare,  
3 – 7 September 2018 . The training course was organized by WIPO in cooperation with ARIPO and the Japan Patent 
Office (JPO).  
 
In attendance were Research and Development Institutions, Universities, Intellectual 
Property Offices , Technology Transfer Offices, Intellectual Property Attorneys, Legal 
Advisors, as well as Science and Technology Offices from ARIPO Member States and 
Observer States, namely: Botswana, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, 
Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria , Sierra Leone, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and 
Zanzibar.  
Workshop on best practices on 
trademark examination  
 Uganda Registration Services Bureau 
(URSB), Kampala, Uganda,  
22 & 25 June 2018 . The workshop was organized by USPTO. ARIPO was invited to provide resource persons  to 
train URSB officials on the Best Practices on Trademark Examination . 
                                                
1 In English only.   
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- 4 - Activity  Location and date  Brief description  
Roving Seminars in Universities and 
Research Centres in ARIPO member 
States  University of Rwanda, Kigali,  
2 – 3 November 2017 . The Seminar was organised by ARIPO in collaboration with the University of Rwanda and 
the Rwanda Development Board. More than 100 participants from different academic 
institutions, research centers and private sector attended the Seminar.  
National University of Science and 
Technology (NUST) (Bulawayo, Zimbabwe), 
26 – 27 March 2018 . The Seminar was organised by ARIPO in collaboration with the Zimbabwe Intellectual 
Property Office and the National University of Science and Technology (the TechnoPark 
Department) in Bulawayo, Zi mbabwe.  
 
University of Liberia, Monrovia,  
7 – 8 April 2018 . 
 The Seminar was organised by ARIPO in collaboration with the University of Liberia and 
the Liberia Intellectual Property Office.  
International University of Management, 
Windhoek, Namibia, 19 – 20 June 2018 . The Seminar was organised by ARIPO in collaboration with the International University of 
Management (IUM) in Windhoek.  
University of Botswana, Gaborone, 5 – 6 
July 2018.  
 The Seminar was organised by ARIPO in collaboration with the Uni versity of Botswana. A 
total of 81 participants from Universities in Botswana attended the Seminar.  
 
University Eduardo Mondlane (Maputo, 
Mozambique), 26 – 27 July 2018 . The Seminar was organised by ARIPO in collaboration with the University Eduardo 
Mondlane and the Intellectual Property Institute of Mozambique.  
Offering sponsorship to students to 
undertake the Master of Intellectual 
Property (MIP programme)  Africa University, Mutare, Zimbabwe . The MIP programme is jointly organized by ARIPO, WIPO, the Japan Patent Office and 
Africa University in Mutare, Zimbabwe.  
The programme was initiated to develop a critical mass of Intellectual Property experts for 
the develop ment of the Intellectual Property system in Africa.  
 
The 10th cohort graduated in June 2018. Another intake (11th cohort) is expected to 
graduate early next year.  
 
So far, the programme has produced 296 IP experts from 26 African Countries from the 
1st to the 10th cohort from ARIPO Member States and other countries in Africa.  
Extension of the Master in Intellectual 
Property in Ghana  
 Kumasi University of Science and 
Technology (Ghana)Kumasi, Ghana . ARIPO in collaboration with the Kumasi Nkwame Nkruma h University of Science & 
Technology in Ghana  and the Ghana Intellectual Property Office launched on 28 August 
2018 a new MPhil programme on IP. ARIPO is sponsoring ten students from its Member 
States.   
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- 5 - Activity  Location and date  Brief description  
 
2. INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RELATED PUBLICATIONS AND OTHER  TOOLS  
 
 
Regional Intellectual Property 
Database   
ARIPO Headquarters, Harare, 2018 .  
The database, which was developed with the support of WIPO, is designed to efficiently 
serve multiple purposes, including on -line provision of published IP data, encoura gement 
of regional trade and IP scientific research. The database was lunched on 10 September 
2018 and has currently more than 400,000 IP titles from ARIPO Office and 12 Member 
States, namely: Botswana, Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, 
Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.  
 
Publication of Guiding tools to assist 
Member States; and other 
publications  ARIPO, Harare, 2018 . In its overall aim to assist Member States and the public at large in IP matters, ARIPO 
endeavors to publish guiding tools and avail other publications in IP field. In 2018, the 
following publications were registered:   
- Comparative Study of Copyright Laws of ARIPO Member States (Volume 2)  
- African Journal of Intellectual Property – AJIP – (jointly published twice a year by 
ARIPO and the Africa University)  
- A textbook on IP:  Intellectual Property Law, Practice and Management: Perspectives 
from Africa (publishe d in collaboration with the Africa University)  
 
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