News & Insights
The illusive class 32 - Design Protection Considerations for Shop Layouts in South Africa
Shop layouts play a significant role in attracting and retaining customers. The way a store or establishment is designed can have a substantial impact on consumer behaviour and brand identity. The risk of having your unique shop layout copied by competitors is a valid concern. In South Africa, an intellectual property instrument in the form […]
June 18 2024
Increase in statutory fee unit resulting in increased official fees
Statutory Instrument No. 25 of 2024 enacted the Fees and Fines (Fee and Penalty Unit Value) (Amendment) Regulations, 2024 on 15 April 2024. In terms of the new Regulations, the statutory unit fee has been revised from 30 Ngwee [K0.30] to 40 Ngwee [K0.40]. The increase in the statutory unit fee has led to an […]
June 18 2024
Secretariat of the African Continental Free Exchange Zone visits OAPI
On 2 and 3 May 2024, the Secretariat of the African Continental Free Exchange Zone (ZLECAF) visited OAPI’s offices in Yaoundé, Cameroon. The meeting between Mr. Desire Loumou, Head of the Intellectual Property Rights Division and Fikremarkos Merso, expert in Intellectual Property rights and the General Management of OAPI, was to facilitate initiating constructive dialogues […]
June 18 2024
SA Cannabis for Private Purposes Act signed into law
On 28 May 2024, President Cyril Ramaphosa signed into law the Cannabis for Private Purposes Act (CfPPA). The Act regulates the cultivation, possession and use of cannabis by adults in a private setting. The CfPPA removes cannabis from the Drugs and Drug Trafficking Act. It also paves the way for the amendment of the Schedules […]
June 18 2024
A recent decision: The road to Section 10(7) is paved with bad intentions
“The road to hell is paved with good intentions” is an old English proverb, meaning that well-intentioned actions may have unintended consequences. One might say that the road to section 10(7) of the Trade Marks Act is paved with bad intentions, as it provides that trade mark applications filed mala fide are considered unregistrable. […]
June 18 2024
Workshop to bolster substantive examination of trade marks
From 13 to 16 May 2024, five trade mark examiners from OAPI participated in a four-day workshop with EUIPO examiners at EUIPO’s offices in Alicante, Spain. The workshop is part of a project with the aim of lending‘Support to the OAPI capacity building programme for trade mark and design examiners at the EUIPO on substantive […]
June 18 2024
Nigerian national workshop on TRIPS
From 28 to 30 May 2024 a national workshop on the Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property (TRIPS), organised by the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, Nigeria was held at the Nigeria Export Promotion Council, in Abuja. Although Nigeria has been a signatory […]
June 18 2024
New Executive Director of the Copyright Society of Liberia
The Copyright Society of Liberia (COSOL), responsible for the protection and promotion of creative works, as well as, amongst other things, the collection and distribution of royalties for the use of creative works, has appointed a new Executive Director, Mr James Y. Draper. Mr. Draper is the former Executive Secretary of the Liberian National Commission […]
June 18 2024
Landmark visit by the DG of WIPO to OAPI office and conference
On 3 and 4 June 2024, the Director General of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), Mr Daren Tang, made a historic visit to the OAPI offices in Cameroon, for the‘WIPO Conference with the Heads of National Intellectual Property Structures of OAPI Member States’. On the first day of the conference there was a ministerial […]
June 18 2024
Ghana joins TMclass
From 13 May 2024, the Registrar General in Ghana will use and accept the terms from the harmonised database of goods and services (HDB) in TMclass. The incorporation of the Ghanian Registry in TMclass takes the total number of participating national and regional IP offices, which includes ARIPO, OAPI, WIPO and the EUIPO, to 93. […]
June 18 2024
Transition to E-filing – CIPA closure
In a public notice, the Companies and Intellectual Property Authority of Botswana (CIPA), announced that the online, e-Filing, system will launch in June 2024. In preparation for the launch, CIPA announced the closure of its offices from 3 June 2024 until 14 June 2024 and that it would not accept any paper documents or electronic […]
June 18 2024
Training on IPR Enforcement for ARIPO member states
From 28 to 30 May, a three-day training session on Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) Enforcement for ARIPO member states was held in Nairobi, Kenya. The training, organised by ARIPO in collaboration with Intellectual Property in Africa #AfrIPI and the Kenya Industrial Property Institute (KIPI), brought together IP professionals, government officials and law enforcement personnel to […]
June 18 2024
Banjul meeting: Director General meeting with the President of The Gambia
ARIPO Director General, Mr Bemanye Twebaze, and his delegation travelled to Banjul, The Gambia for a two-day high-level mission on 6 and 7 May 2024. The discussions were aimed at the advancement of The Gambia’s socio-economic agenda through the support of the ARIPO IP system. The mission included a diplomatic engagement with the President of […]
June 18 2024
2nd Edition of the African Publishers Conference
The 2nd edition of the African Publishers Conference, hosted by ARIPO and the Zimbabwean Book Publishers Association (ZBPA), was held at the ARIPO Office in Harare, Zimbabwe from 3 to 4 June 2024. The theme was “Enhancing the Capacity of African Publishing Industry for the Promotion of Literacy”. The conference was organised by the African […]
June 18 2024
Political party names & symbols – Is trade mark registration worth it?
In recent years, the South African courts have been called on to adjudicate much-publicised trade mark disputes involving the names and logos of prominent political parties. The dispute between the ruling party, the African National Congress, and the ‘new’ party on the block, uMkhonto Wesizwe, being the latest of such cases. While political parties are […]
June 13 2024
Debarments: A Symptom of Deeper Cultural Issues in the Financial Services Sector
Dishonest conduct by representatives of financial service providers (“FSPs”) continues to plague the sector. This is evident from an analysis of the most recent rulings of the Financial Services Tribunal, where a substantial proportion of the rulings pertain to reconsideration applications, challenging FSPs’ decisions to debar their former representatives. Are these simply the actions of […]
June 11 2024
Repealing Legal Barriers: A Triumph for Freedom of Expression in South Africa
The recent repeal of the crime of criminal defamation in South Africa marks a significant victory for press freedom, and the right to freedom of expression. This significant development, enacted through the Judicial Matters Amendment Act No. 15 of 2023, dismantled a considerable obstacle to the constitutional right to freedom of expression, which subjected journalists […]
June 05 2024
Leading law firm Adams & Adams rebrands
Blurb: Leading African law firm, Adams & Adams, is rebranding to modernise its image and reposition itself in the marketplace. Adams & Adams has announced the launch of its refreshed brand identity. Like any rebrand, this is both a costly and time-consuming exercise, and rightfully begs the twin questions of whether a rebrand is appropriate, […]
June 05 2024