ARIPO (African Regional Intellectual Property Organization) - Introduction to ARIPO Patent Applications

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ARIPO African Regional Intellectual Property Organization

(African Regional Intellectual Property Organization)

There are currently two regional intellectual property cooperation organizations in Africa, namely OAPI and ARIPO. The two organizations are not affiliated with each other, and the countries they cover do not overlap, so they are often confused. But there is a way to easily distinguish them, that is, ARIPO covers English-speaking countries, while OAPI covers French-speaking countries. From the perspective of the patent system, OAPI does not require substantive examination, while ARIPO does.

The origin of ARIPO can be traced back to the early 1970s, when at a regional seminar on patents and copyright issues for English-speaking African countries held in Nairobi, the participating countries proposed the establishment of a regional industrial property organization. In 1973, with the help of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), the Lusaka Agreement was finally adopted on December 9, 1976, and ARIPO was born.

ARIPO aims to pool the resources of its member countries in intellectual property affairs to avoid duplication of financial and human resources. At that time, most African countries did not have the ability to examine intellectual property rights, but could only extend the effectiveness of industrial property rights in foreign countries to African countries. In this case, ARIPO is determined to promote the establishment and development of the intellectual property system on the African continent, while also training managers of industrial property laws in African countries. ARIPO currently has 22 member countries, but in the field of patents, ARIPO follows the Harare Protocol on Patents and Industrial Designs, so it is only effective for 20 of them, namely Botswana, Cape Verde, Swaziland, Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Kingdom of Lesotho, Liberia, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe, Sierra Leone, Seychelles, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe. For patent applicants, applicants only need to submit an application to ARIPO to designate any of the contracting states of the Harare Protocol that they wish to protect their inventions. Considering that the patent examination capabilities of these 20 countries are relatively weak, if Chinese patent applicants want to obtain patent authorization in these countries, it is recommended that they only go through the ARIPO channel .

In 2003, ARIPO changed its name from "African Regional Industrial Property Organization" to "African Regional Intellectual Property Organization". Its headquarters is currently located in Harare, the capital of Zimbabwe.

Today we will introduce ARIPO's patent system.

Introduction to ARIPO Patent System

1. Types of patent protection:

  • Inventions, utility models, designs

II. Ways for Chinese applicants to apply for patents at ARIPO

  • Direct application, Paris Convention route and PCT route

3. Review Unit:

IV. Submit your application:

  • Deadline requirements:
    • Paris Convention route: Invention, utility model: 12 months from the earliest priority date; design: 6 months from the earliest priority date
    • PCT route: 31 months from the earliest priority date
  • Language Requirements:
    • Paris Convention route: Applications can be submitted in any language, and non-English versions must be supplemented with an English translation within 2 months from the date of application
    • PCT route: English

V. Review:

  • ARIPO accepts paper and electronic applications, and conducts formal and substantive examinations on invention patent applications. Applicants must pay a designation fee when filing a new application to designate all or some countries. Applicants can request invention and utility model patent applications at the same time when the PCT application enters the national phase, but must pay two types of application fees, and the fees for all patent applications can only be in US dollars. Applicants must file a substantive examination no later than 3 years from the earliest priority date/application date. If the applicant submits the examination results of the corresponding foreign application, the examination process will be accelerated. Before ARIPO makes a decision to grant or reject an application, the applicant can pay a certain fee to convert the patent type from invention to utility model and retain the original application date, but this opportunity is only once.
  • Utility Model: Only formal examination is conducted, but the application will still be published 18 months from the earliest priority date/application date.
  • Design: Formal examination only.

6. Authorization and annual fees:

  • Authorization: ARIPO will notify the applicant and all designated countries of the authorization result. The applicant must pay the authorization fee within 6 months of receiving the authorization notice; for rejection results, the applicant can file a request for review within 3 months of receiving the rejection decision from ARIPO.
  • Annual fees: will be paid annually starting from the first year from the date of application. The specific amount will depend on the number of countries involved in the application or registration.

Features of ARIPO