Zimbabwe – ZIPO Making Headway Despite Operational Constraints
Although the Zimbabwe Intellectual Property Office (ZIPO) has welcomed the fact that its Industrial Property Automated System (IPAS) is up and running again, the Registry’s operations were severely affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. Zimbabwe is one of the countries entering the third wave and is currently in lockdown. As such, ZIPO is operating with a very limited staff complement.
ZIPO has confirmed that filing receipts will be issued in order of the date of filing and that priority dates on timeously filed applications will be acknowledged. The Registry has also published and circulated its first Journal of 2021 on 6th July 2021. The newly assigned Registry official responsible for the Journal has further advised that they will aim to increase the number of applications published in the Journal and the frequency of the publication, in future.
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