  
  
IP/C/W/654/Add.4  
7 octobre  2019 
(19-6464) Page: 1/6 
Conseil des aspects des droits de propriété 
intellectuelle qui touchent au commerce  Original:  anglais  
 
  
ACTIVITÉS DE COOPÉRATION TECHNIQUE: RENSEIGNEMENTS  
COMMUNIQUÉS  PAR D'AUTRES ORGANISATIONS  
INTERGOUVERNEMENTALES  
ORGANISATION RÉGIONALE AFRICAINE DE  
LA PROPRIÉTÉ INTELLECTUELLE (ARIPO)  
Addendum  
À sa réunion du 6 juin 2019, le Conseil des ADPIC est convenu d'inviter les organisations 
intergouvernementales ayant le statut d'observateur au près du  Conseil à actualiser les 
renseignements sur leurs programmes de coopération technique et financière en rapport avec la 
mise en œuvre de l'Accord sur  les ADPIC.  
 
Le présent document reprend les renseignements que l'Organisation régionale africaine de la 
propriété intellectuelle (ARIPO) a fournis dans une communication datée du  4 octobre  2019. 
_______________  
 
 
1.  Le présent document rend compte des principaux programmes et activités de coopération en lien 
avec l'Accord sur les ADPIC et d'autres composantes de la propriété intellectuelle qui ont été réalisés 
par l'Organisation régionale africaine de la propriété intellectuelle (ARIPO) du 1er octobre  2018 au 
20 septembre  2019, suite à l'invitation à fournir des renseignements actualisés sur ces activités 
lancée par le Président du Conseil des ADPIC de l'OMC dans sa lettre du 2 8 juin 2019. 
2.  Pendant la période considérée, l' ARIPO  a réalisé, seule ou en col laboration avec ses partenaires 
de coopération, des activités qui s'inscrivaient dans le cadre de coopération de l'Accord sur les ADPIC 
et qui avaient essentiellement pour objets le renforcement des capacités et la sensibilisation.  
3.  En ce qui concerne le re nforcement des capacités, l'ARIPO a continué à aider financièrement les 
étudiants des États membres inscrits au programme de maîtrise en propriété intellectuelle offert par 
l'Université Africa de Mutare (Zimbabwe), en collaboration avec l'OMPI et l'Office japonais des 
brevets . L'ARIPO parraine également un programme analogue  (MPhil) au Ghana (en collaboration 
avec l'Université de science et de technologie Kumasi Kwame Nkrumah ) et en Tanzanie (en 
collaboration avec l' Université de Dar es -Salaam) . Pour ce qui  est de la sensibilisation , l'initiative 
phare menée  en collaboration avec l'OMPI consiste en  l'organisation de semaines consacrées à la  
propriété intellectuelle dans certains États membres.  
4.  Un autre élément  important qui mérite d'être souligné est la conduite d' une mission de haut 
niveau en Eswatini du 13 au 1 5 mai 2019 en collaboration avec l'Organisation mondiale de la 
propriété intellectuelle (OMPI) . Les objectifs de cette mission comprenaient l'évaluation de la mise 
en œuvre du Plan de développemen t de la propriété intellectuelle élaboré en 2015 avec l'appui 
technique de l'OMPI , la présentation au Cabinet du Royaume d'Eswatini d'un exposé sur "la propriété 
intellectuelle et le développement et le rôle de l'Office de la propriété intellectuelle" et la 
sensibilisation des  hauts fonctionnaires gouvernementaux à la propriété intellectuelle.  IP/C/W/654/Add.4  
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  5.  Le tableau ci -après contient des détails sur les activités de coopération technique et financière 
menées par l'ARIPO en lien avec l'Accord sur les ADPIC et d'autres c omposantes de la propriété 
intellectuelle . Cela comprend des initiatives de formation et des activités de sensibilisation, 
l'assistance aux offices nationaux de la propriété intellectuelle des États membres de l'ARIPO et des 
publications . 
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ANNEXE1  
Activity  Location and date  Brief description  
1. CAPACITY BUILDING AND AWARENESS CREATION INITIATIVES (including organization of workshops, symposia and conferences ) 
3rd Symposium on Copyright and 
Related Rights (1st Regional meeting 
for African Heads of Copyright 
Offices)  
 Nairobi, Kenya, 10 – 14 June 2018 The 3rd edition of the Symposium was organized in the framework of the Tripartite 
Agreement among WIPO, ARIPO and OAPI that was executed in 2018 during the 58th 
Sessions of the WIPO Assemblies. Participants came from 45 Countries across Africa.  
 
One of the outcomes of the meeting is the adoption of the Nairobi Strategic Plan for the 
Development of Copyright and Related Rights in Africa, a the strategy that will guide every 
African Country to achieve the development of an effective and efficient Co pyright system.  
 
High Level Round Table on 
Geographical Indications  Yaoundé, Cameroon, 4 – 5 June 2019  The Conference was jointly organized by WIPO, ARIPO  and OAPI. The Conference, which 
is also an initiative in the framework of the Tripartite Agreement, was organized under the 
theme: " Geographical Indications in Africa: Territorial Development, Economic Integration 
and International Trade ". The China Natio nal Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) 
also provided assistance in the organization of the Conference. Participants to the Round 
Table came from ARIPO and OAPI Member States.  
 
One of the main outcomes of the round table is the Declaration of Yaou ndé that highlights 
items and activities to be implemented  at the national level to develop systems of 
protection and valorisation of Geographical Indications (GIs) and other distinctive signs of 
products of origin related to the quality for the benefit of  local producers and local 
development.   
 
IP Week  Accra, Ghana, 6 – 10 May 2019  The IP week is an initiative that is part of the Cooperation Agreement between WIPO and 
the two African regional Organizations (ARIPO and OAPI) which is aimed at strengthening  
the capacity of selected Countries that have taken steps to harness the IP system to 
accelerate their economic transformation. The IP Week has been conceived as a 5 -day 
national event that targets two groups of stakeholders in back to back workshops dedic ated 
to capacity building and introduction of various IP tools available in various areas of 
economic activity.  
 
The Countries that were selected this year are: Cameroon, Ghana, Kenya, Rwanda and 
Uganda.  
 
Workshops in that regard have been jointly organis ed by WIPO and ARIPO in Ghana, Kenya 
and Rwanda.  Nairobi, Kenya, 18 – 21 June 2019  
Kigali, Rwanda, 24 – 28 June 2019  
                                                
1 En anglais seulement.    
  IP/C/W/654/Add.4  
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Activity  Location and date  Brief description  
In Ghana, over 110 participants attended the event; they came from SMEs (textile/fashion 
sector, manufacturing/food processing and agribusiness as well as universities and 
Research Institutions. In Kenya an d …  
 
The IP Week in Rwanda attracted 98 participants from SMEs, Research Institutions and 
handicraft sector.  
 
In Kenya, over 100 participants from SMEs and Universities and Research and Development 
Institutions attended the workshops.  
 
As a follow up to these workshops, projects will subsequently be initiated in those two 
priority areas in consultation with the n ational IP Offices and the relevant stakeholders.  
 
The Africa regional Intellectual 
Property enforcement training for 
judicial instructors  Gaborone, Botswana, 23 – 26 April 2019  The training was co -organised by ARIPO and the Companies and Intellectual Property 
Authority of Botswana (CIPA) with support from the United States Department of Justice 
(USDoJ) and the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) for Judicial 
Instruc tors from ARIPO Member States and Observer States. 46 participants from the 
Judiciary and Law Enforcement agencies attended the Training.  
 
Seminar on the role of Intellectual 
Property in media broadcasting  Harare, Zimbabwe, 12 March 2019  This one -day Seminar was organised by ARIPO and the Zimbabwe Broadcasting 
Corporation (ZBC) for the benefit of the ZBC staff members. The Seminar is part of the 
Agreement that was signed in 2017 between ARIPO and ZBC with the aim of creating 
awareness of t he large public on Intellectual Property among other objectives.  
 
WIPO -ARIPO Regional Meeting on 
developing the Regional Technology 
and Innovation Support Centre 
(TISC) Network  ARIPO Headquarters, Harare,  
19 – 20 September 2019  The meeting was jointly o rganised by WIPO and ARIPO, with support from the Japan Patent 
Office. The meeting aimed at making follow up on developments in the regional TISCs that 
following the ARIPO Regional TISC Action Plan that was adopted drawn up in the Meeting 
of 2018 and adopt ed by the ARIPO in November 2018, and discussing the next steps with 
regard to Action Plan.  
 
Patent Drafting Course  ARIPO Headquarters, Harare,  
2 – 6 September 2019  The training course was organized by WIPO in cooperation with ARIPO, with the support 
from the Japan Patent Office (JPO).  
 
The particularity of the 2019 edition of the Course is the important number of participants 
from Universities and Research and Devel opment Institutions from 16 ARIPO Member 
States and other African Countries (Ethiopia, Niger, Nigeria and South Africa). Other 
participants were patent examiners from IP Offices, officers from Technology Transfer 
Offices, IP Attorneys and agents, as well a s officers from Science and Technology Offices 
in ARIPO Member States and observer States.  
 
In total 34 participants attended the Course.    
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Activity  Location and date  Brief description  
Seminars on the Patent Cooperation 
Treaty (PCT)  Masvingo & Harare, Zimbabwe,  
9 – 11 April 2019  These Seminars are jo intly organized by WIPO and ARIPO and are aimed at raising the 
awareness among the PCT users, (patent agents, academia, IP officials and 
inventors/innovators) on the benefits of using the PCT system for the protection of 
inventions, and to provide informat ion on the registration procedures and patent protection 
through the system. The seminars afford also an opportunity to provide information on 
ARIPO and the procedures of its regional system for protection of patents and utility 
models, and information on industrial property in general.  
 
In Masvingo and Harare (Zimbabwe), 56 participants attended the Seminars.  
 
In Namibia, around 30 participants attended the Seminar and were mainly staff members 
of the IP Office and few from Law Firms and Universities.  
 
In Luanda, Angola, 30 participants from Angola IP Office, Mozambique, Cap Verde and Sao 
Tome and Principe atte nded the Seminar.  
 
In Nampula, Mozambique, 30 participants benefited from the Seminar.  
 Windhoek, Namibia, 20 – 22 May 2019  
Luanda, Angola, 9 – 11 July 2019  
Nampula, Mozambique, 27 – 28 September 
2019 
Offering sponsorship to students to 
undertake the Master of Intellectual 
Property (MIP programme)  Africa University, Mutare, Zimbabwe  
 
Kwame Nkrumah University of Science & 
Technology in Kumasi, Ghana  
 
University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania  The MIP programme is jointly organized by ARIPO, WIPO and partner Universities with the 
support of the Japan Patent Office.  
 
The programme was initiated to develop a critical mass of Intellectual Property experts for 
the development of the Intellectual Pr operty system in Africa.  
 
The 11th cohort graduated in June 2019. Another intake (12th cohort) is expected to 
graduate in the course of the year 2020.  
 
So far, the programme has produced 324 IP graduates from 26 African Countries from the 
1st to the 11th cohort from ARIPO Member States and other Countries in Africa.  
 
In 2018, the programme was extended to the K wame Nkrumah University of Science & 
Technology in Kumasi, Ghana. This year (2019), the programme has been extended to  the 
University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania . 
 
2. ASSISTANCE TO NATIONAL INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY OFFICES  
High Level Mission to Eswatini  Mbabane, Eswatini, 13 – 15 May 2019  The mission jointly conducted by ARIPO  and WIPO and it aimed at assessing the 
implementation of the Intellectual Property Development Plan (IPDP) of the Kingdom of 
Eswatini that was developed in 2015 with the technical support of WIPO; discussing the 
findings of the WIPO Follow -up mission unde rtaken in 2018; delivering a presentation for 
the Cabinet on "IP and Development and the role of the IP Office"; and creating awareness 
among Senior Government Officials and the newly established IP Inter -Ministerial 
Committee on IP and mechanisms for the implementation of the IPDP in the Kingdom of 
Eswatini.    
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Activity  Location and date  Brief description  
3. PUBLICATIONS  
Publication of Guiding tools to assist 
Member States; and other 
publications  ARIPO, Harare, End 2018 – 2019  In end 2018 and during 2019, the following publications were registered:  
- Guide to contracts, Literary works  
- African Journal of Intellectual Property – AJIP – Volume 3, Issues 1 & 2 (jointly 
published twice a year by ARIPO and the Africa University)  
- ARIPO Model Law on Copyright and Related Rights  
- Guidelines on Ratification/Acces sion and Domestication of International 
Instruments on Copyrights and Related Rights  
 
 
 
 
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