Lusaka
Representatives of Adams & Adams attended the 39th Session of the annual ARIPO
Administrative Council and Council of Ministers Meetings held in Lusaka, Zambia.
The Meeting was well attended by representatives from 16 of the 19 member
states and Angola, as an Observer State. Also in attendance were representatives from
ARIPO’s Cooperating Partners such as the International Trade Mark Association (INTA),
the European Patent Office (EPO), the African Intellectual Property Organisation (OAPI) and
the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO).
African innovation was a recurring theme for speakers at the meeting, who included the
Guest of Honour, Hon. Margaret Mwanakatwe, the Zambian Minister of Commerce, Trade
and Industry. The decrease in the number of patent and trade mark filings was directly attributed to the economic challenges being experienced by China. This led to a significant drop in the number of patent filings from China – a decrease from 110 in 2014 to 18 in 2015.
A number of amendments to the Harare Protocol on Patents & Industrial Designs,
including the Implementing Regulations, and amendments to the Banjul Protocol on Marks,
were tabled and adopted at the Meeting and ratified by the Council of Ministers
