WIPO Global Symposium of Intellectual Property Authorities - Developing Global Intellectual Property Infrastructure for Promoting Innovation and Branding Worldwide Geneva, Switzerland September 17 & 18, 2009 IP Office Automation in Africa

By G H Sibanda Director General [ARIPO]

PRESENTATION OUTLINE

Introduction IP Office Automation Automation in ARIPO Automation Projects in ARIPO member states Current Status ARIPO’s involvement Conclusion

INTRODUCTION

Status

Inter-Governmental Organization; Created by a Diplomatic Conference; Conference adopted - Lusaka Agreement; Purpose Pooling of resources together for promotion, development and harmonization of IP laws and policies.

INTRODUCTION

Membership

open to UNECA and AU

Current Members

- Botswana, The Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe

Observer States include

Angola, Burundi, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Liberia, Mauritius, Nigeria, Rwanda, Seychelles and South Africa

Geographical Distribution of Member States of ARIPO The Gambia Sierra Leone

West Africa

Ghana Sudan Uganda Somalia Kenya

East Africa

Tanzania Zambia Malawi Mozambique Namibia

Central & Southern Africa

Botswana Zimbabwe Swaziland Lesotho

IP Office Automation in Africa

Automation provides

- timely and cost effective IP Administration -accurate, fast and timely dissemination of information, -limited human resource required - easily accessibility by third parties

AUTOMATION IN ARIPO The current System POLITe software was developed by the European Patent Office

Functions

Administration of IP; Generation of reports; Automatic generations of deadlines activities; Generation of the ARIPO journal.

Commutation of fees for distribution to member states

Automation projects in ARIPO Memberstates

Industrial Property Automation System (IPAS): - a comprehensive solution ideal for small to medium sized Industrial Property Offices. It is a collection of tried and proven, continually enhanced with new functionality and value added services based on feedback from the IPOs. - covers the lifespan of TMS, patents and ID processing , including application, formality checking, search and examination, generation of office and user documents and notifications, certificates, publication of gazettes / journals as well as post registration actions i.e. renewals, amendments and assignments etc

comprises a Madrid Module which allows for e-communication with the Madrid System over the Internet for automatic processing of electronic notifications into the national database . This tool is useful for countries which are members of the Madrid System.

Current Status

IPAS Users :

Country (date of 1 st IPAS deployment) IPAS module Botswana March 2004 Trademarks/Patents/Industr ial Designs/Madrid module Remarks Ethiopia January 2005 Ghana June 2005 Kenya November 2003 Lesotho September 2003 Patents Trademarks Trademarks deployment scheduled for end of 2009 Patents &Industrial Designs and Madrid module pending Trademarks/Patents/Industr ial Designs and Madrid Module Pilot office for ARIPO/KIPI project for exchange of electronic data Trademarks Project on hold due to external factors which have impacted on the system use

IPAS USERS:

Madagascar December 2008 Malawi September 2005 Mozambique October 2002 Namibia April 2003 Nigeria December 2007 Tanzania (BRELA) July 2004 Zanzibar January 2005 Uganda May 2009 Zambia Zimbabwe September 2005

Current Status continued

Trademarks Trademarks Trademarks/Patents/Madrid Module Trademarks Trademarks Trademarks/Patents Trademarks Trademarks Trademarks/Patents Trademarks Patents/Industrial Design and Madrid module pending Patents deployment pending Further capacity building mission planned.

Patents & Madrid module pending System use stagnating due to external factors impacting on the project Further capacity building missions planned for both IPOs Follow-up training planned Madrid module pending Urgent need for new PCs

ARIPO’s Involvement

AUTOMATION, INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT

Provide support to WIPO’s automation initiatives in ARIPO MS IPAS Project - Maintain the WIPO , WIPOCOS server (Copyright) and IPAS server ( industrial Property - WIPO-ARIPO Project for online linkages between ARIPO and its MS - Scanning Project of Patent documents at ARIPO and its MS in pursuance of PatentScope development plans. - Training of IT experts in MS in the management of IPAS and WIPOCOS - WIPO Regional Consultant provides technical support and follow-up to the project in the IPOs, based in ARIPO

Conclusion

Automation has become indispensible in the development of IP It is pivotal in bridging the digital divide between developed and developing countries EPO-ARIPO Roving Seminars targeting SMEs

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