IP/C/W/614/Add.5  
24 October  2016 
(16-5787) Page: 1/6 
Council for Trade -Related Aspects of 
Intellectual Property Rights  Original:  English  
 
  TECHNICAL COOPERATION ACTIVITIES: INFORMATION FROM  
OTHER INTERGOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS  
AFRICAN REGIONAL INT ELLECTUAL PROPERTY  ORGANIZATION (ARIPO)  
Addendum  
At its meeting of 7 -8 June 2016, the Council for TRIPS agreed to invite intergovernmental 
organiz ation 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 Africa n 
Regional Intellectual Property Organization (ARIPO) by means of a communication dated 
17 October  2016.  
 
_______________  
TECHNICAL AND F INANCIAL COOPERATION  PROGRAMMES  
RELEVANT TO THE TRIP S AGREEMENT  
1.  The African Regional Intellectual Property Organization  (ARIPO) was  established on 
9 December  1976 at a Diplomatic Conference held in Lusaka , Zambia . ARIPO was created to pool 
together resources of its Member States for the promotion, de velopment and harmonization of 
intellectual property laws and policies and  to ensure that it contributes to the social, economic and 
technological development of its Member States . To date, ARIPO has 19 Member States : 
Botswana, The Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, 
Sao Tome & Principe, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, Swaziland, Uganda, United Republic of 
Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe . The Organization is based in Harare, Republic of Zimbabwe.  
2.  ARIPO was granted an observer status on a meeting by meeting basis by the WTO Council for 
TRIPS at  its meeting of 8 to 9 June 2010. The WTO Council for TRIPS has from then been inviting 
ARIPO to attend its meetings.  
3.  This document presents a brief report on main cooperation programmes and activities 
undertaken by ARIPO in 2016 which are relevant to the TRIPS Agreement  and other 
IP components , following  the invitation of the Chairman of the WTO Council for TRIPS of 
27 July 2016 to provide updated information on such activities.  
4.  Pursuant to its mandate enshrined in its constitutive text ( the Lusaka Agreeme nt of 
9 December  1976), ARIPO organizes activities and programmes either solely or in conjunction  with 
its partners such as WIPO and others . These programmes and activities are mainly aimed at 
assisting ARIPO 's Member States and Africa as a whole in intellectual property matters . One of the 
highlights  in this regard  is the Roving Seminars ARIPO conduct s in Member States . This year 's 
overall theme  is: "Fostering Creativity and Innovation for Economic Growth and Development in 
Africa ". In order to ensure Memb er States fully benefit from those seminars, ARIPO gives them the 
opportunity to propose fields for interventi on depending on their needs in i ntellectual property in 
general including aspects of the TRIPS Agreem ent. IP/C/W/614/Add.5  
- 2 - 
  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 Awareness 
and Training initiatives ; Assistance to National Intellectual Property  Offices ; Improvement of 
Intellectua l Property  Legal Framework ; and IP related Publications . 
_______________  
 
   
  IP/C/W/614/Add.5  
- 3 - 
 
ANNEX1 
1  AWARENESS AND TRAINI NG INITIATIVES  
Activity  Location and date Brief description  
National Workshop on the Patent 
Cooperation Treaty ( PCT), Malawi  Blantyre, Malawi, 
25-26 January 2016 The workshop was organiz ed by WIPO  in cooperation with the Department of the 
Registrar General, Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Malawi . ARIPO provided a 
resource person to train the staff of the Malawi Intellectual Property Office on the  
application procedures as per its different protocols and provide technical assistance on 
Patent D rafting . The workshop attracted participants from various Government 
Ministries, Universities and the Private Sector.  
WIPO/ZIPO National Seminar on 
Copyright and Related Rights , Zimbabwe  Harare, Zimbabwe, 
28-29 January  2016 The two-day Seminar was co -organiz ed by WIPO and the Zimbabwe Intellectual Property 
Office  (ZIPO)  in collaboration with ARIPO which provided the venue and facilitation  of the 
Seminar . The ob jective of the Seminar was to train stakeholders on enforcement of 
copyright , licensing, challenges in the creative industry sector, amongst other issues 
relevant to the copyright -based industries . 
Seminar on the Patent Cooperation 
Treaty (PCT) in South A frica Pretoria, South Africa, 
1-3 March  2016 The Seminar was organiz ed by WIPO in cooperation with the Companies and Intellectual 
Property Commission (CIPC) of South Africa for the benefit of 20 newly recruited CIPC 
patent examiners . ARIPO provided a resou rce person who trained the patent examiners 
on technical issues about examination as well as Patent Drafting  among others . 
National Workshop on the Patent 
Cooperation Treaty (PCT), Mozambique  Beira and Maputo, 
Mozambique, 
18-21 April 2016 The Seminar was organized by WIPO in cooperation with the Industrial Property Institute 
(IPI) of Mozambique . ARIPO provided a resource person who presented  the procedures 
of ARIPO regional system for protection of patents and utility models . The ARIPO expert 
also trained the IP Office staff on patent drafting.  
National Seminar on the Patent 
Cooperation Treaty (PCT) in Rwanda  Kigali, Rwanda, 
17-18 August  2016 The Seminar was organiz ed by WIPO in cooperation with the Rwanda Development 
Board (RDB) for the benefit of users o f the PCT in Rwanda . ARIPO provided a resource 
person who trained participants on  the procedures of ARIPO regional system for 
protection of patents and utility models . The ARIPO expert also trained the IP Office staff 
on patent drafting.  
Sub-Regional Work shop on the 
Development and Effective Use of 
Intellectual Property Statistics for ARIPO 
Member States  Harare, 
14-16 September  2016 The Workshop was organized by WIPO, Japan Patent Office (JPO), in cooperation with 
ARIPO and the Government of the Republic o f Zimbabwe . Participants were drawn from 
ARIPO Member States . ARIPO urged participants who included Registrars General to 
accurately keep, update and regularly provide IP statistics . Participants also learned how 
to use the IP data to holistically develop Intellectual Property (good planning, budgeting, 
etc.).  
                                                
1 In English only.    
  IP/C/W/614/Add.5  
- 4 - 
 
Activity  Location and date Brief description  
Roving Seminars in ARIPO Member 
States2 Gaborone, Botswana  
14-18 March  2016 
Kampala, Uganda 
28 March -1 April 2016 
Windhoek, Namibia 
14-18 April 2016 The Roving Seminars covered a number of topics but  mainly ARIPO experts trained the 
staff of the national IP Offices on ARIPO procedures as well as technical matters 
especially patent drafting.  
In a nutshell, the topics included the following:  
 Protection and Promotion of Patents, Utility Models, Industria l Designs, 
Trademarks and Computer  Software;  
 Protection and Utilization of New Varieties of Plants, Geographical Indications, 
Traditional Knowledge and Hand icraft for Economic Development;  
 Registration, Commercialization and Monetization of Patents, Utilit y Models, 
Industrial Designs, Trademar ks and Geographical Indications;  
 Protection and utilization of Traditional Knowledge, Expressions of Folklore and 
Genetic Resources;  
 Copyright and Related Rights for Development;  
 The National, Regional and internationa l IP Legal System and Registration of 
IP Rights;  
 The Role of Intellectual Property in Business, with specific Emphasis on 
Manufacturing, Branding, Youth innovation and Commercialization of Research 
Results;  
 Protection of New Varieties of Plant and Geograph ic Indications to enhance 
Agricultural Productivity and Origin -Based Products . 
Capacity Building by the ARIPO 
Academy : Offer sponsorship to students 
to undertake the Master of Intellectual 
Property (MIP programme)  Africa University, Mutare, 
Zimbabwe  The M IP programme is jointly organized by ARIPO, WIPO and Africa University in Mutare, 
Zimbabwe.  
The programme was initiated to develop a critical mass of Intellectual Property experts 
for the development of the Intellectual Property system in Africa.  
The 8th cohort graduated in 2016 . Another intake (9th cohort) is expected to graduate 
early next year.  
So far, the programme has graduated 221 students since its launch in 2008 from the 
following countries : Angola (1) ; Botswana ( 11); Burundi ( 2); Cameroon (4) ; Eritrea (1) ; 
Ethiopia (3) ; Ghana (18) ; Kenya (18) ; Lesotho (9) ; Liberia (2) ; Malawi (14) ; 
Mauritius  (1); M ozambique (5) ; N amibia (13) ; N igeria (9) ; Rwanda (4) ; 
Sierra  Leone  (3); South Africa (4) ; Sudan (1) ; Swaziland (2) ; Tanzania (19) ; 
The Gambia (4) ; Uganda (16); Zambia (8) ; and Zimbabwe (49) . 
                                                
2 In 2014 and 2015, the Roving Seminars covered the following countries: Swaziland ( 24-28 March  2014);  Mozambique (  21-25 April 2014) ; Liberia ( 28 April-2 May 2014) ; 
Sierra Leone (  19-23 May 2014) ; The Gambia ( 4-8 August 2014) ; Sudan  (October 2014) ; Rwanda ( 9-11 March  2015);  Kenya ( 16-20 March  2015);  Zambia  (11-15 May 2015); 
Lesotho ( 26-29 May 2015); Ghana (10-14 August  2015).    
  IP/C/W/614/Add.5  
- 5 - 
 
2  ASSISTANCE TO NATION AL INTELLECTUAL PROP ERTY OFFICES  
Activity  Location a nd date Brief description  
Launch of the ARIPO Industrial Property 
(IP) back files  Digitization Project, ARIPO 
Headquarters, Harare  ARIPO Headquar ters, 
Harare, Zimbabwe,  
7–11 March  2016 The Project was co -funded by WIPO through the Fund -In-Trust of the Government of 
Japan and is implemented by Venturecom, a company based in Harare, Zimbabwe . 
The project is part of a bigger project to modernize the A RIPO ICT infrastructure and 
those of Member States in order to establish an online communication and information 
exchange with the latter.  
Training on the operations of the Harare 
Protocol (ARIPO Protocol on Patents) and 
Banjul Proto col (ARIPO Protocol on  
Trademarks)  for the National Office of 
the Republic of Sao Tome & Principe  Sao Tome & Principe , 
11-13 April 2016 Sao Tome & Principe joined ARIPO only in 2014  through accession to the Harare 
Protocol on Patents . In 2015, the Country acceded to the Banjul Protocol . ARIPO 
organ ized in collaboration with the Sao Tome & Principe National Industrial Property 
Office (SENAPI), an intensive training in other to capacitate the SENAPI staff on the 
processing of ARIPO applications  and other technical matters . 
More pa rticularly, the Training included among other topics the Introduction to the 
ARIPO Industrial Property Protocols and linkages  with international IP systems 
especially the TRIPS Agreement, the PCT and the Budapest Treaty . 
Hosting the delegates of the Kenya  
Industrial Property Tribunal at ARIPO 
Headquarters, Harare, Zimbabwe  ARIPO Headquarters, Harare, 
Zimbabwe, 12 -15 April 2016 The objective of the visit of the delegation was to learn about to ARIPO procedures 
and benefit from the expertise of ARIPO staff . As a result, a framework for further 
cooperation with Kenya Industrial Property Tribunal was signed . Through this 
framework, ARIPO will assist the Kenya Industrial Property Tribunal in initiatives 
related to the enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights  in Kenya.  
Building the capacity of Officers from 
Uganda Registration Services Bureau 
(URSB ) at the ARIPO Headquarters  ARIPO Headquarters, Harare, 
Zimbabwe, 19-29 April 2016 In a bid to assist ARIPO Member States in building the capacity of their staff wo rking 
in Intellectual Property Offices,  ARIPO hosts  at different times and upon request 
officers from Member States who stay at the Headquarters for a number of days . It is 
in that regard that the Secretariat received two members of the URSB staff to 
under go a two -week training of the ARIPO procedures and other technical matters 
relevant to their work as staff of a national IP Office , especially in handling Intellectual 
Property Rights applications . 
Study visit for ARIPO Member States to 
USPTO, United Stat es of America  Alexandria, Virginia, US, 
19-23 September  2016 The study visit was jointly organiz ed by USPTO and ARIPO for the benefit of some 
ARIPO Member States . Two ARIPO Member States (Zambia and Lesotho) and an 
official from ARIPO Secretariat conducted  the study tour . The objective of the study 
tour was to learn how well -established Copyright Offices work in order to assist ARIPO 
Member States improve their Copyright management.  
   
  IP/C/W/614/Add.5  
- 6 - 
 
3  IMPROVEMENT OF INTEL LECTUAL PROPERTY LEG AL FRAMEWORK  
Activity  Location and date Brief description  
Marrakesh Treaty, Beijing Treaty, 
TAG, WIPO Connect, Administration 
and Management Workshops  in 
Botswana  Gaborone, Botswana,  
25–29 July 2016 The workshops were co -organiz ed by WIPO, ARIPO and the Botswana Company and 
Intellectual Property Authority (CIPA) as well as other Cooperating Partners (International 
Federation for Reproduction Rights (IFRRO) . Beneficiaries were from Copyright Offices and 
Collective Management Organisations of ARIPO Member States and two Observer Members.  
The objectives of the workshops included addressing issues and options for national 
implementation of the Marrakesh Treaty  and the Beijing Treaty both related to Copyright . 
As a result, the Government of Botswana acceded to the Marrakesh Treaty  while other 
Member States have expressed their commitment to accede to the Treaty and other  
instruments.  
Review of the Namibian Draft 
Regulations under the Industrial 
Property Act at the ARIPO 
Headquarters  ARIPO Headquarters 
(Harare, Zimbabwe), 
15-16 August  2016 It is within ARIPO 's mandate to provide technical assistance to Member States either upon 
its own initiative or upon request . It is in this regard that ARIPO assisted the Government of 
Namibia through thoroughly reviewing the draft Regulations for the implement ation of the 
Namibian Industrial Property Act adopted in March  2012. 
4  INTELLECTUAL PROPERT Y RELATED PUBLICATIO NS 
Activity  Location and date Brief description  
Publication of Guiding tools to assist 
Member States  ARIPO, Harare,  
2016 Comparative Study on Cop yright Laws of ARIPO Member States and their adherence to 
International Instruments on Copyright and Related Rights . 
The aim of this tool is to assist ARIPO Member States to harmonise their laws and also t o 
improve their national legislations.  
Copyright Aw areness Raising Guide for ARIPO Member States.  
The objective of this publication is to assist member States to be systematic when they are 
developing and implementing awareness initiatives.  
Guidelines for the Domestication of the Marrakesh Treaty.  
Upon rea lization that the majority of persons who are blind and visually impaired live in 
developing countries and least developed countries, ARIPO found imperative to publish this 
tool which will help member states to persuade decision makers and expedite the p rocess of 
ratification of / accession to the Marrakesh Treaty and domesticate it.  
 
__________