COUNTRY : REPUBLIC OF LIBERIA
CAPITAL : MONROVIA
LANGUAGE : ENGLISH
ARIPO is a comity of 18 Former English Colonies which are also English speaking Countries - BOTSWANA, GAMBIA, GHANA, KENYA, LESOTHO, LIBERIA, MALAWI, MOZAMBIQUE, NAMIBIA, RWANDA, SIERRA LEONE, SOMALIA, SUDAN, SWAZILAND, TANZANIA, UGANDA, ZAMBIA, ZIMBABWE.
African Regional Intellectual Property Organisation known more commonly by its acronym (ARIPO) was established through the Lusaka Agreement and is headquartered at Harare Zimbabwe.
Member Nations of the ARIPO have retained significant portions of the legal systems of the countries that colonised them.
However, legal questions regarding infringement and IP matters requiring litigation are to be settled by domestic courts of each state.
As per the protocol, an applicant for the grant of a patent can, by filing just one application designate any of the contracting states in which the applicant wishes the invention to be accorded protection.
Filing can be done :
• Directly with ARIPO office; or
• The IP office of the contracting states.
International Treaties to which ARIPO is a signatory:
• Paris Convention for the protection of Industrial Property
• Patent Co-operation Treaty – PCT.
• Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights –TRIPS.
• The Harare Protocol.
Chapter I Chapter II
FILING WITH PATENT OFFICE- 12 Months
REQUEST FOR EXAMINATION – Within 6 month from the date of direction
COMPLIANCE OF OFFICE ACTION –
ANY OTHER COMPLIANCE –
Inventions may relate to products, processes or industrial applications. Patents are therefore granted to inventions that:
• Are New or Novel
• Involve an inventive step
• Comprise of a process or an Industrial application of the invention.
For an Invention to be patentable, it should contain the following:
(i). Novelty: An invention is considered new or novel if it is not included in the state of the art. State of the art consists of all the information available and accessible to the public prior to the date of filing for the patent application nationally or internationally by means of its description, use or any other method by which it may be known or utilised by experts in the field.
(ii). Inventive Step: is, given the prevailing state of the art, it is not obvious to an expert in that field. An invention is considered ‘obvious’ when it is within the grasp of a skilled person in that field of expertise & therefore to be expected from him.
(iii). Industrial Application: of the invention would be ‘when the object of the invention may be produced, manufactured or used in any kind of industry including agriculture’
Inventions pertaining to the following:
• Discoveries, Scientific Theories & Mathematical methods.
• Aesthetic creations.
• Substances already existing in nature and nuclear materials.
• Charts
• Schemes, Rules, Methods for performing mental acts, playing games, doing business as well as Presentation of Information.
• Programmes for Computers.
• Inventions contrary to public order & morals.
• Methods of treatment by surgery or therapy on humans and animals.
• Prejudicial to the Interest or Security of the Nation.
Application shall contain:
(i). Identification of the applicant.
(ii). A description of the invention.
(iii). A claim or claims .
(iv). A drawing or drawings where necessary.
(v). Abstract.
(vi). Designation of the contracting state to which the patent is requested to be granted
EXAMINATION OF THE PATENT APPLICATION:
• Once the application is filed, the application is scrutinised for defence & security aspects.
• The invention’s patentability.
• The patent application’s unitary features.
• The accuracy of the priority claimed.
• The invention’s compliance with the patentability conditions.
• Formality and Substantial examination.
Compulsory licenses are to be granted by the IP office in each designated state and are subject to the applicable national laws.
