WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  IP/C/W/549/Add.6 
23 February 2011  
 
(11-0941) 
Council for Trade-Related Aspects of 
Intellectual Property Rights Original:   English 
 
 
 
TECHNICAL COOPERATION ACTIVITIES:  INFORMATION FROM 
OTHER INTERGOVERNMEN TAL ORGANIZATIONS 
 
THE AFRICAN REGIONAL INTELLECTUAL  PROPERTY ORGANIZATION (ARIPO) 
 
Addendum  
   At its meeting of 8-9 June 2010, the Council for TRIPS agreed to invite intergovernmental 
organization observers to the Council to update th e information on their technical and financial 
cooperation programmes relating to the impl ementation of the TRIPS Agreement.  
 The present document reproduces the informati on which has been received from the African 
Regional Intellectual Property Organization (ARIPO) by means of a communication dated 
3 December  2010.  
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 1. The present document is a brief report on activ ities undertaken by ARIPO which are relevant 
to the TRIPS Agreement and also relevant to the broader issues pertaining to Intellectual Property 
Rights.  This report covers the year 2010. 
2. ARIPO in line with its mandate as enshrined in the Lusaka Agreement (9 December 1976) as 
amended, continues to organize activities and progra mmes solely on its own or in collaboration with 
other organizations such as the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and others.  These 
programmes mostly are targeted at its Member States and the African continent as a whole.  
3. During the year under review a number of relevant IP programmes were undertaken, 
including: 
(a) 26 to 29 January 2010:  WIPO, the Intern ational Federation of Reprographic Rights 
Organizations (IFRRO) and ARIPO organized a Tr aining Seminar on Collective Management 
of Literary and Artistic Works (Works of Visual Arts and Reprography) at the ARIPO 
Academy in Harare, Zimbabwe. 
 The focus was on the legislation, Enforcemen t and Management of Collective Management 
Societies. 
 (b) 23 to 26 February 2010:  The Union of Plant Variety Protection (UPOV) organized in 
cooperation with ARIPO and Ministry of Agri culture (Tanzania) a Regional Seminar on Plant 
Variety Protection and Breeders Rights at New Africa Hotel, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. 
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  The main objective of the Seminar was to cr eate awareness of the Economic Potential in 
Developing National and Regional Le gislations for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants, 
share experience with countries that have est ablished Plant Variety Protection Systems and 
carry out an explanatory assessment of the status of Plant Variety Protection System of the Member States of ARIPO. 
 
(c) 26 to 30 April 2010:  ARIPO attended the Fifth Session of WIPO's Committee on 
Development and Intellectual Property (CDIP)  which was held in Geneva, Switzerland. 
 At the meeting, a mechanism to manage the continuing implementation of development 
oriented principles into WIPO's work was ag reed upon by the Member States.  Many new 
development agenda projects were approved by the Committee including the economic 
analysis of Intellectual Property in public domain, technology transfer and access to knowledge in the digital age, etc. 
 
(d) 10 to 11 May 2010:  ARIPO participated in  a Regional Workshops on the Protection of 
Geographical Indications (GIs) in the African Member States of the African Caribbean and 
Pacific (ACP) Group, held in Cape Town, Sout h Africa.  The objective of the workshop was 
to "support ACP countries and regions in the development of niche markets for their 
products," to stimulate economic development, to alleviate poverty and to improve livelihood 
of their populations. 
(e) (e) 27 to 28 May 2010:  ARIPO attended the second technical meeting on the 
Harmonization of Copyright Legislative in Sout hern and Eastern Africa, held in Lilongwe, 
Malawi. 
 The purpose was to harmonize the Copyright Laws of Member States. 
 
(f) 8 to 14 June 2010:  ARIPO organized a traini ng seminar for personnel of some member IP 
officers on Internal Production of Industrial Property Journals, held at ARIPO Academy, Harare, Zimbabwe. 
 This included both theoretical and practical tr aining on internal production of IP Journals . 
 
(g) 9 to 11 June 2010:  WIPO in collaboration with ARIPO organized a workshop on the 
Usefulness of Patent Information and Commercialization of Research Results, at ARIPO Academy, Harare, Zimbabwe. 
 The aim of the Workshop was to create awareness of researchers, inventors and lecturers from 
universities and research institutes on how to use patent information for their research. 
 (h) 14 to 18 June 2010.  ARIPO participated in the Third Session of the PCT Working Group 
held in Geneva, Switzerland. 
 The Session's main recommendation was enhancing the PCT's contributions in "improving 
the quality of granted patents and to make the international patent systems more useful to 
developing countries". 
 (i) 17 to 18 June 2010:  ARIPO participated in a National Workshop on Plant Breeders' Rights 
through the Southern African Seed Systems Development Initiative, a USAID project which 
was organized by the Seed Control and Certif ication Institute (SCCI) in collaboration with  IP/C/W/549/Add.6 
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  Seed Centre at Iowa State University and the International Crops Research Institute for Semi-
Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) in Lusaka, Zambia. 
 The objective was to create awareness among plant breeders from the public and private 
sectors on the implementation of the Plant Variety Protection (PVP) Act of Zambia and to discuss the possibility of a Regional PVP System for ARIPO. 
 
(j) 21 to 23 June 2010:  WIPO in cooperation w ith ARIPO and the Government of Namibia 
organized a National Seminar on the strategic us e of Intellectual Property.  The occasion was 
also used to launch WIPO's translated publications for Namibia Small and Medium Size Enterprises (SMEs).  The Seminar was held in Otjiwarongo, Namibia. 
 The objective of the seminar was to address decision makers, local business community, IP 
Stakeholders, SMEs, etc on the strategic use of IP. 
 
(k) 27 to 30 June 2010:  An official delegation from Papua New Guinea was hosted by ARIPO to 
further study and familiarize the officials with  the importance and procedures of the Harare 
and Banjul Protocol of ARIPO. 
 
(l) 9 August 2010:  ARIPO adopted the Swakopmund Protocol on the Protection of Traditional 
Knowledge and Expressions of Folklore, in Swakopmund, Namibia.  This was achieved 
through cooperation with WIPO and the Organisa tion Africaine de la Propriété Intellectuelle 
(OAPI).   
The Protocol aims at protecting traditional kn owledge holders against any infringement of 
their rights and to protect expressions of fo lklore against misappropriation, misuse and 
unlawful exploitation. 
 
(m) 8 to 9 August 2010:  a WIPO-ARIPO Awareness  Seminar on the Role of Patents and the 
Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) in promoting T echnology Transfer in Developing Countries 
was held in Kampala, Uganda. 
 The main objective was to sensitize all stakeholde rs and users on the use of IP and Patents, in 
particular for social and economic development of African societies. 
 (n) 2 to 3 September 2010:  ARIPO hosted delegat es from WIPO and the National IT Industry 
Promotions Agency (NIPA) of the Republic of Korea at its headquarters in Harare, 
Zimbabwe. 
 This was in response to a request made by th e Director General of ARIPO for support in ICT 
infrastructural development of the ARIPO Secretariat. 
 (o) 8 to 9 September 2010:  ARIPO participat ed in a MINICOM-WIPO-ARIPO Awareness 
Seminar on the Role of Patents and the PCT in Promoting Technology Transfer in Developing 
Countries, in Kigali, Rwanda. 
 Its objective was to sensitize all stakeholders a nd users especially from research institutions of 
higher learning on the use of IP and patents in particular for social and economic development 
in Africa. 
 (p) 18 to 19 October 2010:  ARIPO organized a work shop for the Inter-Ministerial Committee on 
IP for the government and people of Zimbabwe, in Harare, Zimbabwe. IP/C/W/549/Add.6 
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 Its aim was to discuss strategi es for mainstreaming IP in the development of the government's 
agenda towards overall economic development. 
 (q) 31 October to 4 November:  ARIPO particip ated in an International Symposium on 
Intellectual Property and Traditional Knowledge , Traditional Culture Expressions and Genetic 
Resources towards sustainable development fo r Indigenous Communities, in St Petersburg, 
Russian Federation. 
 The aim was to discuss key policy and technical issues related to the protection of Intellectual 
Property, Traditional Knowledge and Traditiona l Cultural Expressions and access to benefits 
of genetic resources. 
 (r) 3 to 5 November 2010:  ARIPO participated  in an All ACP Conference on Geographical 
Indications on the theme "Adding value to limited volumes" held in Brussels, Belgium. 
 Its aim was to use product differentiation in te rms of characteristics and reputation to develop 
niche markets for ACP products and for GIs to aid capacity building and economic 
development. 
 (s)  22 to 26 November:  WIPO- ARIPO Round Table on IP Topical Issues was held on Harare, 
Zimbabwe. 
 Its aim was to discuss topical issues on IP a nd their relevance for development projects and 
programmes. 
 
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