We are pleased to report that the industrial strike action undertaken by the Registrar General’s Department and Industrial Property Office on 20 January 2022 has been called off and the Registry is back to full operational capacity
Africa Update
Kenya – Roll out of the Anti-Counterfeit Authority Integrated Management System (AIMS)
On 23 February 2022, the Anti-Counterfeit Authority announced that they had concluded the migration process to the Anti-Counterfeit Authority Integrated Management System (“AIMS”), an online platform developed to facilitate the process of the recordal of intellectual...
OAPI – Certain class headings under the International Classification of the NICE Agreement will no longer be accepted by OAPI
Certain class headings under the International Classification of the NICE Agreement will no longer be accepted by OAPI[1] On 28 February 2022, the Director General of the Organisation Africaine de la Propriete Intellectuelle (“OAPI”) issued a Circular Notice informing...
Egypt -New Financial Technology (Fintech) Law and Regulations
On 14 February 2022, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El Sisi signed the country’s first Financial Technology Law, No. 5 of 2022 (“the FinTech Law”) into law[1]. The FinTech Law is aimed at introducing the long-awaited rules governing the provisions of various...
Egypt – Decrease in the Committee of Opposition’s turnaround time for decisions
Recent developments at the Committee of Oppositions in Egypt have resulted in a drastic reduction in the time taken for the Committee to render decisions. Whilst in the past it was common practice to wait in excess of a year for the Committee of Oppositions to render...
Mauritius: Industrial Property Regulations 2022 promulgated and Industrial Property Act 2019 enters into force on 31 January 2022 and increase to Official fees
Trademarks On 31 January 2022, the previously promulgated Industrial Property Act, 2019 was proclaimed and came into force in Mauritius. The Industrial Property Regulations 2022, made under the Act, also came into force on 31 January 2022. The Industrial Property Act,...
Kenya – The Copyright (Amendment) Bill, 2021
The object of the Bill is to amend the Copyright Act (hereinafter referred to as the “principal Act”), so that provision is made for a formula for sharing of revenue from ring back tunes between artists/copyright holders and the telecommunication companies. The Bill...
Algeria – Value Added Tax Effective, 1 January 2022
In accordance with the new finance law[1], a 19% Valued Added Tax is to be added on professional fees with effect from 1 January 2022. Therefore, all the IP matters in Algeria filed on or after 1 January 2022 and all pending matters that will be completed on or after...
South Africa – Availability of Companies and Intellectual Property Commission Files- Status on file transition to a new bulk storage Facility
In terms of a Notice[1] issued by Companies and Intellectual Property Commission (“CIPC”), the handover project of moving 7.2 million Companies, Close Corporation, Trade Marks, Design, Copyright and Cooperatives files to the new storage facility was completed on 26...
Zimbabwean Registry now up and running
In October 2021, the Industrial Property Automated System (IPAS) crashed, and this caused a devastating ripple effect on all matters at the Registry. The IPAS system has now been replaced and is now fully functional. Delays are however expected, particularly with...
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